Thursday 23 November 2017

Newspaper key terminology

Barcode  - Used to scan the newspaper when purchasing. It is an optical, machine-readable, representation of data and contains information such as price

Body Text - Also known as copy. Written material that makes up the main part of an article

Byline - The line above the story, which gives the author’s name and sometimes their job and location

Caption - Brief text underneath an image describing the photograph or graphic

Centre Spread - A photograph, often in full colour, that runs across the middle two pages

Copy - the main article or other body of text. It's called this because it's made by 'copywriters', or people employed to write articles

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

Folio - Top label for the whole page. Can relate to the area covered in the paper for example, National or a big news topic such as Social Media, Syria

Gutter - The blank space between margins of facing pages of a publication or the blank space between columns of text

Headline - A phrase that summarises the main point of the article. Usually in large print and a different style to catch the attention of the reader

Lead Story - Main story, usually a splash

Main Image - Dominant picture, often filling much of the front cover

Masthead - Title of the newspaper displayed on the front page

Page furniture - Everything on a page except pictures or text of stories

Page Numbers - A system of organisation within the magazine. Helps the audience find what they want to read

Pull Quote - Something taken from within an article, usually said by the person in the main image

Skyline - An information panel on the front page that tells the reader about other stories in the paper to tempt them inside

Stand First - Block of text that introduces the story, normally in a different style to the body text and headline

Standalone - Picture story that can exist on its own or on a front page leading to a story inside

Target Audience - People who the newspaper aims to sell to