Journalism Terms Quiz

Journalism Terms

• Advertorial: An advertisement disguised as a news article, often found alongside regular advertisements.
• Advocacy Journalism: Openly taking sides on issues and expressing opinions in reporting, while still aiming for factual accuracy.
• Angle: The specific aspect of a story a journalist chooses to emphasize.
• Assignment: A task given to a journalist by their editor.
• Attribute: Identifying the source of information, whether it's a direct quote or paraphrased statement. Crucial for credibility.
• Background: Information that provides context for a news story but isn't part of the central event.
• Balance: Ensuring both sides of an argument are presented fairly in a story.
• Banner: A large headline that stretches across the width of a page, often at the top.
• Beat: A specific area of journalism a reporter regularly covers (e.g., police, health).
• Breaking News: Reports of events that are happening as a newspaper is being printed or a broadcast is airing.
• Broadsheet: A large newspaper format. Often associated with more serious journalism than tabloid newspapers.
• Byline: The writer's name, placed at the beginning or end of an article.
• Caption: Text that accompanies a picture, explaining what it shows and identifying photographer or owner.
• Chief Reporter: The most senior reporter in a newsroom, sometimes called a news editor.
• Chief Sub-editor: The person responsible for supervising other sub-editors.
• Circulation: The number of copies a newspaper or magazine sells.
• Copy: Written material intended for publication. In broadcasting, it's called a script.
• Copy Editor: Journalists who check and edit articles for accuracy, grammar, style, and clarity. They also write headlines and place stories on pages.
• Cover Story: The most important article featured on the front cover of a magazine.
• Credit Line: Text that acknowledges the source of a story or picture.
• Dateline: A line at the beginning of a story that states the city and/or country where it was filed.
• Deadline: The time by which a reporter must submit a finished story.
• Direct Quote: The exact words spoken by someone, enclosed in quotation marks and attributed to the speaker.
• Edit: The process of preparing text or other media for publication or broadcast, ensuring accuracy, grammar, and style.
• Edition: A single print run of a newspaper or magazine, sometimes tailored for different regions or times of day.
• Editor: The person responsible for the content and direction of a publication (e.g., newspaper, magazine, or online news outlet).
• Editorial: An article that expresses the opinion of the news organization on a specific issue.
• Journalism: The structured communication of current events and issues to an audience.
• Journalist: Someone who gathers and presents news to an audience (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, online).
• Layout: (1) A plan showing the arrangement of stories, pictures, and other elements on a page. (2) Stories, pictures about a single topic.
• Lead: The first story in a news bulletin or on the front page of a newspaper, also called a splash.
• Letters to the Editor: Letters from readers published in newspapers or magazines, expressing their views on previous content or current issues.
• Mass Media: Media technologies (radio, television, newspapers, magazines) that reach large audiences via widespread communication.
• Masthead: The name of a newspaper, displayed prominently at the top of the front page.
• New Media: Media that emerged because of computers, contrasting with “old media” (e.g., websites are new media, newspapers are old media).
• News: Information that is new, unusual, interesting, or significant to an audience.
• News Agency: A company that sells news stories and features to media outlets.
• News Editor: The person responsible for deciding which news events are covered, and how stories are gathered and written.
• Newsroom: The office where journalists work.
• Offline: (1) Not connected to the internet or other electronic network. (2) A discussion that’s not for official publication or recording.
• Off the Record: Information given to a journalist with the condition that it will not be published (not on the record), or that the source will not be identified (non-attributable).
• Op-ed: An opinion piece written by a prominent journalist, often found on the page opposite the editorial page.
• Press: Printing machinery, or the collective term for newspapers and magazines.
• Quotation Marks: Marks used in text to indicate the start and end of a direct quote.
• Quote: (1) Using the exact words of someone in a story or broadcast. (2) Short for quotation marks.
• Reported Speech: Paraphrasing what someone said without using their exact words, often used to summarize or clarify.
• Reporter: A journalist who gathers information for news stories through research, interviews, etc.
• Scoop: A significant news story published or broadcast before competitors.
• Slug: A key word or phrase that identifies a news story during the writing and editing process.
• Soft News: Stories about interesting topics that have little or no impact on peoples’ lives (e.g., celebrity news, lifestyle stories)
• Source: (1) The person or place from which information originates. (2) The signal from a camera in live broadcast.
• Sub-editor: A journalist responsible for checking and editing reporters’ work, writing headlines, and planning the page layout.
• Tabloid: A smaller newspaper format, often associated with more sensational and less serious journalism compared to broadsheets.
• Verbatim: The exact words someone used, often distinguished by quotation marks.
• Vox Pop: Short interviews with members of the public, used to gauge public opinion on an issue.
• Wires: News stories or photos provided by news agencies for journalists to use.
• WWWWW & H: Important questions journalists should ask when gathering information for a story (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?).
• Yellow Journalism: Sensational and often unethical journalism practices, especially focusing on sensationalism and emotional appeals.

Test your knowledge of essential journalism terms with this quiz! Covering definitions and concepts like advertorial, advocacy journalism, and breaking news, this quiz will help you understand the foundational language of the field. Perfect for aspiring journalists and media enthusiasts!