Media Vocabulary

ARTICLE a story based on the facts
BIAS when an editor or reporter expresses a personal point of view in a news article or in a series of articles
BYLINE a line at the beginning of a news article giving the writer’s name
CAPTION a sentence or phrase under a picture to identify or describe the picture
COLUMN a regular article or feature in a newspaper or magazine
COLUMNIST a person who writes a regular (daily or weekly) article for a newspaper or magazine, such as a political columnist or a sports columnist
CORRESPONDENT a person employed by a news organization to gather, report, or contribute news, articles, etc., regularly from a distant place
CREDIBLE believable; worthy of belief or confidence; trustworthy
DATELINE ususally comes after the byline, gives the when (date) and where (city) the story took place (if confined to a specific city/country)
EDITOR the head of a news organization; person who chooses the articles that will be printed each day
EDITORIAL article written by the editor giving his opinion on a problem or event
ETHICAL pertaining to or dealing with morals; pertaining to right and wrong in conduct
EYEWITNESS a person who sees an occurrence with his own eyes and is able to give a firsthand account of it
FEATURE a special or regular article, usually displayed prominently
FRONT PAGE the first page of a paper, usually carrying the most important story
HEADLINE title of any newspaper article
INTEGRITY soundness or moral character; honesty
JOURNALIST a person who writes articles for a news organization
LIBEL a lie that causes damage (misrepresents damagingly)
the MEDIA all the means of mass communication (newspapers, TV, radio, websites, magazines)
NEWS a report of a recent event; what is reported about a recent event or events
NEWS SERVICES news companies that have their own reporters. They sell their articles to the media.  The Associated Press (AP) is the top news service used in the U.S.  United Press International (UPI), Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP) are also used by the media.
OBJECTIVE not affected by personal feelings or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased
OMBUDSMAN /
PUBLIC EDITOR
a neutral individual employed by a news organization to receive, investigate, report on and (in some instances) resolve reader or viewer complaints against a news organization
OPINION a person’s thoughts about a particular subject; a subjective point of view
PLAGIARIZE to put forth as original to oneself the ideas or words of another
the PRESS all the media and agencies that print, broadcast, or gather and transmit news
REPORTER a person who gathers and reports news for a news organization
SLANDER a false report maliciously uttered and tending to injure the reputation of a person
SOURCE someone who gives a reporter information; a supplier of information
SUBJECTIVE based on personal feelings
STORY a news article or report