Journalism IIDefinitions

ProjectBy Erin Tieman

ADD - material to be added to a news story, usually with “first” or

“second” in a slug line

AIR – white space

GUTTER – long,

unbroken space

between two columns of

type

LOWERCASE – small letter as distinguished from a

capital letter

ALIGN – to place adjacent to an even

baseline on a horizontal plane

ATTRIBUTION – source of the material in a story

AP – short for Associated Pres. A major news agency

BREAK OVER or JUMP, – story that jumps from one

page to another

JUMP LINES – continuation lines: continued on page 4

BAD BREAK – bad phrasing of a headline;

bad wrapping of headline type

BANNER or RIBBON – usually a headline

stretching across all columns of a newspaper

WIDOW – one or two words

appearing at the end of a

paragraph and on the last line

BARKER or HAMMER – reversed kicker in which

the kicker is in larger type than the lines below

it.

BLANKET HEAD – headline over

several columns of type and/or illustrations

CLOSEUP or HEADSHOT – photo showing head or

head and shoulders of an object seen at close

range

BLEED – running an illustration off

the page

BLOOPER – any embarrassing error in print (not a typo)

BOLDFACE – type that is blacker than normal

typeface

ITALICS – slanted letter form,

abbreviated itals.

BOX – unit of type enclosed by a border

BRACE – type of layout with a banner headline and the story in the right-hand

column

LEAD – the beginning paragraph or paragraphs of a story

BREAK – point at which the story turns from one

column to another

BROKEN HEADS – headlines with lines of different widths

BULLETS – larges periods used for

decoration, usually at the beginning of paragraphs

BUMPER or TOMBSTONE – two elements placed side by

side, also called a

Tombstone when it refers to headlines

BYLINE – credit given in print to the article’s

author

CANNNED COPY – copy released by

syndicate

STANDALONE – a photo without an

accompanying story

CAPS – short for capital or uppercase

letters

CAPTION or CUTLINE –explanatory material,

usually placed beneath a picture

CENTER SPREAD or DOUBLE

TRUCK – two facing pages made up as one in the center of a newspaper

section

SPREAD – story predominately displayed

often over several columns and with art

DROPOUT – a subsidiary

headline

CENTERED – placed in the

middle of a line

COL. – abbreviation for column

RUNAROUND – method of

setting type to run around a

picture

COLUMN INCH – unit of space

measurement: one column wide and one

inch deep

CROSSLINE – headline composed of a single

line

DASH – short line separating

parts of headlines or headline and

story

DECK – section of a

headline

DATELINE – opening phrase of story showing origin,

source, and sometimes date of

the story

DUMMY – diagram outlining the

makeup scheme

DUTCH WRAP – breaking body type from one column to another not covered by the

display line [raw wrap]

EARS – small box on one or both sides of the nameplate

carrying brief announcements of weather

or circulation, etc.

EDITION – one of several press runs

ENDMARK – symbol used to

indicate the close of a

story, such as 30 or #.

EYEBROW or KICKER – smaller headline over a headline over a

headline

FEATURE – a story that stresses a

human-interest angle

FLAG or NAMEPLATE – title of paper appearing on page 1

FLUSH – even with the column margin. Type aligned on one side.

FOLIO – line showing the newspaper’s name, date,

and page number

OP ED – page opposite the editorial page

HAIRLINE – finest line available in

printing; often used between to

columns of type

HALFTONE – a photoengraving: a dot pattern that gives the

illusion of tones

HANGER – a headline that

descends from a banner

HANGING INDENT – headline style in which the top line is set flush left and subsequent

lines are indented from the left.

INDEX – newspaper’s

table of contents,

usually found on page one

INITIAL – (initial cap) first letter of a paragraph

set in type larger than the

body type

JUMPHEAD – headline over the

continued portion of a

story

RUNOVER, JUMP STORY,

or TURN STORY –

portion of a story that continues from one

page to the next

JUSTIFY – spacing out a line of type to

fill the column

LEADING – the space between

lines of type

LINECUT – Illustrations

without tones, used for maps

and charts

MASTHEAD – informational

material about a newspaper, usually

placed on the editorial page

NEWSPRINT – low-quality paper used to print newspapers

OBIT – abbreviation for obituary

POINT – unit of printing measurement, approx. 1/72 of an inch

RIVERS – streaks of white space within typeset columns caused by excessive word spacing or letter

spacing

O ROPROP:                      run of the paper.  Ads that may appear anywhere in several editions of the paper

ROP – run of paper. Ads that my appear anywhere in several editions of the paper

RULES – any line that is printed.

SERIFS – the fine cross strokes at the top and

bottom of most styles of letters

SIDEBAR – brief story with a

special angle that goes with a more important

story

SKYLINE – headline across the top of a

page over the nameplate

STANDING BOX - type box kept on hand for repeated use

SUBHEAD – one- or two-line head used within the body of a story

in type

TABLOID – newspaper

format usually four or five

columns wide and about 14 inches deep

THUMBNAIL – half-column portrait

O typoTypo:                      short for typographical error (not a blooper)

TYPO – short for

typographical error (not a

blooper)