Newspapers

• Bias


  One-sided rather than neutral or objective
• Body text


  Also known as copy. Written material that makes up the main part of an article
• Broadsheet newspaper


  Large format newspapers that report news in depth, often with a serious tone and higher level language. News is dominated by national and international events, politics, business, with less emphasis on celebrities and gossip. Lower circulation, cost more to buy, higher news content.
• Byline


  The line above the story, which gives the author's name and sometimes their job and location
• Caption


  Brief text underneath an image anchoring/describing the photograph or graphic
• Central image


  Draws the eye of the reader. Usually taken by photographers who work for the newspaper/freelancers. However, in this age of citizen journalism, the ordinary person can find their phone snaps may well be used!
• Centre spread


  A photograph, often in full colour, that runs across the middle two pages
• Classified advert


  An advertisement that uses only text, as opposed to a display ad, which also incorporates graphics
• Edition


  Some newspapers print several of these every night, these are versions with some changes and maybe additional late stories
• Editorial


  Newspaper articles giving the newspaper's opinions on the main stories of the day. They are also sometimes called 'leader articles'
• Editor's code of practice

  An official set of rules that the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK must follow.
• Gatekeepers


  The people responsible for deciding on the news agenda, they are usually the newspaper owner, the editor or senior journalists.
• Gutter


  The blank space between margins of facing pages of a publication or the blank space between columns of text
• Headlines


  Text at the top of a story designed to catch our interest/hook the audience. They may use a range of language devices e.g. puns, alliteration, hyperbole. Often short, eye-catching, dramatic, enigmatic.
• Ideology


  A set of ideas or thoughts that someone, or a group of people, believe in.
• Jump line


  This follows the teaser headline on the front page and encourages the reader to buy the newspaper in order to read on. E.g. turn to page 6.
• Masthead


  The top section of a newspaper which gives the paper's title, price and date. The name (and the chosen typography) may encode its ideology.
• Mediated


  This refers to the way in which the media present aspects of the world to the audience. Newspapers are often viewed as a window on the world but this reflection of society is mediated in relation to the beliefs of the newspaper. Newspapers act as a mediator constructing stories and, in the process, encoding meaning.
• Middle market dailies


  Refers to the target readership of newspapers such as Daily Mail and Daily Express. Positioned somewhere between red tops and broadsheets.
• Page furniture


  Everything on a page except pictures or text of stories.
• Page numbers


  A system of organisation within the magazine. Helps you find what you want to read.
• Photojournalism


  Use of photographs to record news events
• The plug/puff


  At the top of the front page. Purpose is to broaden the appeal of the newspaper to the reader by suggesting what else the paper can offer them.
• Popular press


  Refers to the cheaper newspapers with a mass circulation. Commonly known as the tabloid press.
• Press release


  An information sheet sent out by companies and organisations to newspapers, television and radio news editors. The aim is to get the news team interested in covering the story.
• Pyramid story structure


  Newspaper stories start with the main events. Then they give more details and eyewitness comments in short paragraphs. The paragraphs at the end of the story are less important than those at the beginning. This allows sub-editors to shorten stories by cutting paragraphs from the end.
• Pull quote


  A quote from the story that is enlarged and appears within the article, usually said by the person in the main image
• Pun


  Wordplay, often used in newspaper headlines.
• Readership


  The group of people who read a particular newspaper.
• Red tops


  Name given to those newspapers that use a red masthead – The Sun, Daily Mirror and Daily Star.
• Skyline


  An information panel on the front page that tells the reader about other stories in the paper to tempt them inside.
• Splash

  An important news story that will be the lead on the front page.
• Standfirst

  Block of text that introduces the story, normally in a different style to the body text and headline. The first sentence (sometimes printed in bold, or capitals, or a larger font) aims to give you the whole story in one go: who, what, where, when, why?
• Standalone


  An arresting image with no story attached. Used as a hook to attract an audience. Usually the quality press will use standalone images to catch the attention of the reader.
• Strapline


  Usually above/below the main headline and provides more detail about the story.
• Subeditor


  Someone who gets a newspaper story into its final form – deciding the headline, correcting text, making any necessary cuts or changes
• Subheads/subheadings


  Usually single words/phrases used to sum up the content of the paragraph below.
• Tabloid newspaper


  Smaller size newspapers aimed at a large audience. News is reported in less depth and emphasises human interest stories. The language level is simple, paragraphs and stories shorter, with more use of images (image-led). Content often includes more celebrities, media news and gossip
• Cultural code


  The shared meanings and assumptions within a culture that allow people to interpret and make sense of cultural texts and practices
• Representation


  The way events, issues, individuals (including self-representation) and social groups (including social identity) are represented through processes of selection and combination