For those interested in journalism, it’s an exciting and promising career. With a degree in English, communications or journalism – as well as time in j-school, this career can be within reach. It’s also important to learn journalism terms right away, as students and apprentices will be conversing with these terms quite often. Below are some of the most common journalism terms journalism students and professionals must know.
Journalism Course Terms 1-5
Source – A person, book, song or other material from which journalists gather information.
Off the Record – This term means that information given to the journalist must not be repeated, printed or given to the public, and neither should the identity of the source. As in, “Off the record, Mr. Williams paid a record amount to this company.” While the particular quote may not be used, journalists can use the information to dig up other information that they can put on the record.
Feature – A feature story is one that is covered in-depth. Journalists typically pick apart every angle of the topic and create a story that the public can understand. While the feature may not be everyday news, it may grow from everyday news. For instance, a feature on the increasing number of child homicides and why it could be happening is a feature that could grow from the news.
Scrum – A scrum is a group of reporters crowded around an individual directly related to a story. Journalists will likely be yelling questions in an attempt to learn more and further their story. This often happens outside of courtrooms or even at individuals’ homes.
Closed Questions/Open Questions – Closed questions are questions that allow an individual to give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. These questions do not prompt the individual to talk more. Open questions inspire the individuals to speak more, and therefore give more details of the story to the journalist.
More Journalism Terms Journalists Must Know
Beat – Covering a particular type of journalism, such as sports news or celebrity news.
Advocacy – A type of reporting in which the journalist takes a side and forms an opinion on the happenings in the story. This is not common, since journalism is supposed to be fair and balanced, however, it does happen with certain stories.
Credibility – The amount of believability attached to a particular journalist or television news channel. The credibility is often a result of past reporting and whether the facts were correct or not.
By learning these journalism terms, potential journalists will be able to communicate more effectively with others in the industry.
Additional Resources
TV Journalism vs Print Accuracy
Kristi Carter - Kristi is an experienced journalist, internet marketing consultant and professional copywriter with over 11 years of professional writing ...
