FBLA Journalism

Multiple Platforms

Multiple Platforms

the news organization has both a print publication and an Internet site; media through which consumers obtain news, such as through newspapers and news magazines, television, radio, and the Internet

Accuracy

getting all the facts right and always seeking the truth

Integrity

In journalistic terms, it means:
1) not to sell your services for financial reward other than the salary you receive from your employer
2) not to take money from a person, group or organization in return for ensuring their story is covered by your news organization
3) not to promote a story based on any personal, group, or partisan interests.
4) not to endorse or appear to endorse any organization, its products, activities or services
5) not to promote commercial products or services
6) not to promote our own media organization.

Fabrication

an invention; a lie

Public Official

anyone in a position of official authority that is conferred by a state (ex.: government worker, senator, etc.)

Precedent

a legal decision or form of proceeding serving as an authoritative rule or pattern in future similar or analogous cases

Sunshine Laws

laws requiring certain proceedings of government agencies to be open or available to the public

Storyboard

A storyboard is a sketch of how to organize a story and a list of its contents

Videographer

a person who makes video films

Newspaper

publication that contains information about current events, features on different topics and advertisements

Penny Press

newspapers that were named after the cost, 1 cent

Yellow Journalism

mid-1890s journalism that represented sensationalism, screaming headlines and cheap melodrama

Muckraking

the beginning of investigative journalism; journalists took on the role of promoting social responsibility investigating corruption, especially in big business, social institutions and politics

First Amendment

the First Amendment to the Constitution, which provides the rights to free speech and free press

Censorship

the prevention of printing or broadcasting materials that are considered by some to be objectionable

Mass Media

refers to all the channels of communication that reach a large audience

Golden Age of Radio

refers to the 1930s when Americans listened to radios for music, drama, comedy, variety shows and news

Multiple Media

may include print, broadcast and Internet; adding audio and video elements to a print story

Correspondent

a reporter

Ethics

the moral principals that govern the appropriate conduct for individuals and organizations

Circulation

the number of copies of newspapers distributed on an average day; one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates; not always the same as copies sold, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the reader

Online Journalism

contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is distributed via the Internet as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast

Beat

genre of journalism that can be described as the craft of in-depth reporting on a particular issue, sector, organization or institution over time

General Assignment

form of reporting that requires the ability to report and write about a wide range of topics

Enterprise Reporting

a methodology that involves providing substantial information to the managers in an organization to help them make business decisions

Pitch

a writer's description of a potential story (and why it should matter) to an editor

Tipping Point

the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and irreversible development

Jargon

language that pertains to one's business

Interview

takes the form of a conversation between two or more people: interviewer(s) ask questions to elicit facts or statements from interviewee(s). Interviews are a standard part of journalism and media reporting

Primary Source

an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study

Secondary Source

a source that was created later by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions that are the topic at hand

On Background

means that a reporter can use the information you give them, but cannot name or quote you directly; different from off-the-record, which means that information dispensed during an interaction cannot be dispensed in ANY way

Confidential Source

a person who provides information to a law-enforcement agency or to a journalist on the express or implied guarantee of anonymity

Anecdote

a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature, or an obscure historical or biographical account

Phoner

an interview conducted by telephone (informal)

Read-Back

The repetition of a message one has received, in order to acknowledge it (ex: The reading aloud by a court reporter or stenographer of testimony previously taken down in stenographic dictation, usually at the request of the presiding judge or parties involved in a deposition)

Central Point

What the story is really about, what question or questions the story will answer to be worthwhile,
why people need or will want to know about it,
if it reflects a larger trend or theme, etc.

Wire Service

a news agency that supplies syndicated news by wire to newspapers, radio, and television stations

Linotype

a composing machine producing lines of words as single strips of metal, used chiefly for newspapers; now rarely used

AP Style

Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law - an English Stylebook (grammar style and usage guide) created by American journalists connected with the Associated Press in order to achieve a way to standardize mass communications; published in 1953, updated biennally over the next 20 years; its simplified rules of grammar (dropping Oxford comma and using figures for all numbers above 9) have caused corporate marketing and public relations departments to also adopt it

Narrative Style

used to captivate readers by drawing them into a story with greater detail than is found in traditional news stories; is a popular format for magazines such as The New Yorker and can be difficult to define and write

Hourglass Style

a combination of inverted pyramid and narrative structures. The author begins with key details (who, what, when, where, and why), and adds details in the inverted pyramid structure; story then abruptly "turns," requiring a clear transition, to focus on a narrative, such as the story of a specific eyewitness or party, which addresses finer details and implications, before making its final conclusion

Focus Style

lead (which can run for 3-5 paragraphs), anecdotal soft lead (starts out with a small story about a person, place, or situation that exemplifies the larger theme), the nut graf (central point of story - key theme - and how lead illustrates that point), body (further explains central point), conclusion (wraps up story by linking insight to focus lead)

Kicker

A short, catchy word or phrase over a major headline

Content Editor

(also called developmental editing or substantive editing), as the name implies, involves checking the content

Managing Editor

a senior member of a publication's management team; typically, the managing editor (ME) reports directly to the Editor in Chief and oversees all aspects of the publication

Executive Editor

responsible for developing a product for its final release; the smaller the publication, the more these roles overlap; top editor at many publications may be known as the chief editor, executive editor, or simply the editor

News Meeting

news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions

Direct Quotation

in which you copy an author's words directly from the text and use that exact wording in your essay

Indirect Quotation

An indirect quotation is when the meaning but not the exact words of something someone spoke is referred to - NO quotation marks; paraphrasing

Partial Quotation

use of a direct quotation in which a middle section of the quote has been removed; the text that has been directly quoted must be enclosed in quotation marks and the source must be cited

Sound Bite

a short extract from a recorded interview, chosen for its pungency or appropriateness

Dialogue

conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie

Attribution

to show or indicate where information in a news story comes from

In-depth Reporting

usually refers to taking a closer look at a news event, person or issue; would involve more than the typical number of interviews than for a breaking news story, a deeper level of background research and might result in a longer story that explores different aspects of the subject in greater levels of detail

FOIA

Freedom of Information Act - a United States federal law that grants the public access to information possessed by government agencies; government officials are required to disclose data unless it falls under one of the nine exceptions:
Classified information - damages national security
Internal information involving personnel rules and agency practices
Material specifically shielded from disclosure by another law
Confidential commercial or financial data (trade secrets)
Records that would be privileged in litigation
Information that would invade someone's privacy
Law enforcement records
Information related to government regulation of financial institutions
Certain geological/geographical data

Computer-assisted Reporting

describes the use of computers to gather and analyze the data necessary to write news stories

Visual Journalism

practice of strategically combining words and images to convey information

Breakout Box

a critical piece of electrical test equipment used to support integration testing, expedite maintenance, and streamline the troubleshooting process at the system, subsystem, and component level by simplifying the access to test signals

Locator Maps

a simple map used in cartography to show the location of a particular geographic area within its larger and presumably more familiar context

Caption

a title or brief explanation appended to an article, illustration, cartoon, or poster

Primary Headline

main headline that captures reader attention, label

Secondary Headline

Second tier of info that adds detail, sub headline

Banner

a headline extending across the width of a newspaper page, usually across the top of the front page

Ear

a small box in either upper corner of a newspaper page, usually the front page or split page, containing the name of or a symbol for the edition, a weather bulletin, slogan, etc.

Digest

a magazine, periodical, etc, that summarizes news of current events

Feature Story

a newspaper or magazine article or report of a person, event, an aspect of a major event, or the like, often having a personal slant and written in an individual style

Human Interest Story

a feature story that discusses a person, or people, or a companion animal in an emotional way; presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest, sympathy or motivation in the reader or viewer

Trend

(of a topic) be the subject of many posts on a social media website within a short period of time

Editorial

a newspaper article written by or on behalf of an editor that gives an opinion on a topical issue

Subjective Writing

a style of writing that is not well suited for news reporting, textbooks or other forms of writing in which the information or writing needs to be based on pure facts (for opposite - writing based purely on facts - see objective writing)

Column

a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, where a writer expresses his/her own opinion in few columns allotted to him/her by the newspaper organization

Critic

a person who judges the merits of literary, artistic, or musical works, especially one who does so professionally

Umbrella Lead

sets the foundation for creating newscast opens as well as designing team coverage

Anchor

a person who is the main broadcaster on a program of news, sports, etc., and who usually also serves as coordinator of all participating broadcasters during the program

Producer

a person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of making of a movie or broadcast or for staging a play, opera, etc

Sequencing

a series of related scenes or shots, as those taking place in one locale or at one time, that make up one episode of the film narrative

Pan

to photograph or televise while rotating a camera on its vertical or horizontal axis in order to keep a moving person or object in view or allow the film to record a panorama (ex - to pan from one end of the field to another during a football game)

Subheads

a heading that precedes the main text, or a group of paragraphs of the main text; helps inform about or summarize the topic; long or complex articles often have more than one; are one type of entry point that help readers make choices, such as where to begin (or continue) reading

Photo journalism

the art or practice of communicating news by photographs, especially in magazines

Still

an ordinary static photograph as opposed to a motion picture, especially a single shot from a movie

Contact Sheet

a piece of photographic paper onto which several or all of the negatives on a roll of film have been contact printed

Photo Essay

an essay or short article consisting of text and numerous photographs

Crop

cut the edges of (a photograph) in order to produce a better picture or to fit a given space

Ladder

a planning device designating what goes on specific pages (a layout for a newspaper or yearbook)

Depth of Field

the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that give an image judged to be in focus in a camera

Business Manager

a person who drives the work of others in order to run a major business efficiently and make a large profit

Budget

an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time

Expenses

the cost required for something; the money spent on something

Income

money received, especially on a regular basis, for work or through investments

Sales Pitch

a line of talk that attempts to persuade someone or something, with a planned sales presentation strategy of a product or service designed to initiate and close a sale of the product or service

Advertising Manager

someone who plans and directs the promotional and advertising campaigns of companies in order to generate interest in a product or service

Open-source journalism

describes forms of innovative publishing of online journalism, rather than the sourcing of news stories by a professional journalist