Newspaper Jargon (πPlease Download PDF here.)
Jargon (dΚΙΛΚ³gΙn)
Noun
The special vocabulary used by people who work at certain jobs is called jargon.
often derog … α αား။ …αα်းα αား။
You use jargon to refer to words and expressions that are used in special or technical ways by particular groups of people, often making the language difficult to understand.
banking/computer/legal jargon.
~ jargons plural
Synonyms: parlance, slang, idiom, patter
The manual is full of the jargon of self-improvement courses.
Newspaper Jargon
The headline of a newspaper article is the title of the story.
The area or subject that a reporter covers is called a beat.
When a picture goes to the edge of a page, it bleeds.
A widow is a word on a line by itself at the end of a paragraph.
A typo is a mistake in a printed word caused by hitting the wrong letter key.
The names of a newspaper’s publishers and editors are listed on the masthead.
If a newspaper publishes a big story before anyone else, it’s a scoop.
If you cut off part of a picture, you crop it.
A stringer is a reporter who is not on the newspaper staff but sends in stories.
Glossary
Dummy
Noun
( Printing) a set of pages with the layout, as for a magazine
~ dummies plural
Beat
COUNTABLE NOUN
A police officer's or journalist's beat is the area for which he or she is responsible.
bleeds
to print or be printed so that text, illustrations, etc, run off the trimmed page
widow
printing
a short line at the end of a paragraph, esp one that occurs as the top line of a page or column
typo
A typo is a typographical error.
masthead
(mΙΛsthed-)
COUNTABLE NOUN [usually singular, usually with poss]
A newspaper's masthead is the part at the top of the front page where its name appears in big letters.
Scoop
COUNTABLE NOUN
You can use scoop to refer to an exciting news story which is reported in one newspaper or on one television programme before it appears anywhere else.
...one of the biggest scoops in the history of newspapers.
Synonyms: exclusive
VERB
If a newspaper scoops other newspapers, it succeeds in printing an exciting or important story before they do.
All the newspapers really want to do is scoop the opposition. [VERB noun]
crop
If you crop a photograph, you cut part of it off, in order to get rid of part of the picture or to be able to frame it.
I decided to crop the picture just above the waterline. [VERB noun]
Her husband was cropped from the photograph. [be VERB-ed + from]
[Also VERB noun from noun]
stringer
COUNTABLE NOUN
A stringer is a journalist who is employed part-time by a newspaper or news service in order to report on a particular area.
Noun
αော်αံα ား
[journalism]
He picked up extra money as a local stringer for the New York Times.
mock up
COUNTABLE NOUN
A mock-up of something such as a machine or building is a model of it which is used in tests or to show people what it will look like.
Noun
αုံα ံαု
a mock-up car/submarine.
αုံαှိα်αွα် ααူαာαုံα ံ။
do a mock-up of a book cover.
~ mock-ups plural
precede (prΙͺsiΛd)
Noun
~ Precedence αှေးαျαြα်း။ αှေးααြα ်αြα်း။
Verb
α‘αျα်αျαα်
αှေ့αောα်αα်။ α‘αျα်αျαα်။ α¦းαα်။
This point has been dealt with in the preceding paragraph.α€α‘αျα်αို α‘αα် α ာαိုα်၌ αော်αြαဲ့αြီ။
~ precedes 3rd person; ~ preceded past and past participle; ~ preceding present participle
shovel
Noun
αေါ်αြား။
compose
Verb
αေးαွဲ့αီαုံးαα်။ α α်αိုαα်။
She began to compose at an early age.
fml α ီαုံးαα်။ αေးαားαα်။
I'm composing a formal reply to the letter.
twine (twaΙͺn)
Noun
αα်αျα်αြိုးαဲ့αို့ αွα်းαα်αားαော αြိုး။ αြိုး။
a ball of twine.
~ twines plural
A. Read the newspaper jargon word. Find and circle two other words
that mean almost the same thing.
1. dummy mock up doll model
2. bleed injure run extend
3. scoop first precede shovel
4. typo error compose mistake
5. crop plant cut trim
6. beat assignment specialty attack
7. stringer writer journalist twine
B. Write the newspaper jargon word for each clue.
1. a list of names _masthead_____________ 2. an extra word ___widow____________
A. Use what you know. Write the best word to complete each sentence.
1. The reporter’s ____beat______________ was City Hall, and his story was about
the mayor.
2. The editor wanted to focus on the boy’s face so she decided to
____crop______________ the photo.
3. Clay’s fingers flew over the keys, but he rarely made a ____typo______________ .
4. The __stringer________________ called to say she had a good story on a robbery.
5. Maya was so proud when her name was listed as an editor on the
____masthead______________ .
6. The art director made up a ____dummy______________ to show how the page
would look.
7. The picture on this page will ____bleed______________ across the margin.
8. Marie had some good contacts and got a ____scoop______________ on a big story.
9. The ____headline______________ about the fire was in large bold type.
10. Cut a few words to get rid of the _____widow___________ at the end of the story.
B. Read each question. Choose the best answer.
1. Which one do you correct? ❒ typo ❒ type
2. Which one is first? ❒ scoop ❒ scope
3. Which one is extra? ❒ window ❒ widow
4. Which one is a stringer? ❒ reader ❒ reporter
Writing to Learn
Pretend you are a newspaper editor. Write a memo to your staff.
Use at least three words in newspaper jargon.
memo
COUNTABLE NOUN
A memo is a short official note that is sent by one person to another within the same company or organization.
Synonyms: memorandum, minute, note, message
Complete the chart. Write the jargon meaning for each word.
WORD USUAL MEANING NEWSPAPER JARGON
1. bleed lose blood extend a photo to the edge of the page
2. headline part of a body, and a long narrow mark title of a newspaper story
3. scoop a small shovel a story published before other newspapers print it
4. crop plants grown by a farmer to cut off part of a picture
5. stringer someone who hangs string a reporter who sends in stories but is not on staff
6. dummy a lifelike doll a model of a page before it’s printed
7. beat hit a reporter’s assigned area
8. masthead a tall pole for a boat, and a part of the body list of publishers and editors
9. widow a woman whose husband has died word on a line by itself at the end of a paragraph
widow
Tr. Thu