National Newspaper Week 2020 - Making a newspaper from Newburgh News 10-5-1945

News Explains Terms Used by Newspaper

Posted 10/8/20

Every profession and occupation has its own distinctive terminology and the newspaper profession - the Fourth Estate - is no exception, Some of the words used in a newspaper office are generally …

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National Newspaper Week 2020 - Making a newspaper from Newburgh News 10-5-1945

News Explains Terms Used by Newspaper

Posted

Every profession and occupation has its own distinctive terminology and the newspaper profession - the Fourth Estate - is no exception, Some of the words used in a newspaper office are generally known, but others are recognized only by persons who have "ink in their veins."

The very expression "fourth estate" is a mystery to many persons. The term was borrowed from Edmund Burke's speech in which, pointing to reporters in the gallery of Parliament, he said: "There are three estates in Parliament,
but yonder sits the Fourth Estate, the more important of them all." The first three English states are the clergy, the nobles, and commons.

The general public will be much more conscious of its newspapers during the observance of National Newspaper Week which begins today and continues through next Monday. To acquaint the public with some of the descriptive words used in a newspaper office, The News has compiled the following glossary.

UP - The United Press. This is a world wide news gathering organization which serves The News and delivers about 35,000 words of world news each publication day.

NEA - This monogram, appearing on most news pictures published in The News (with the exception of local pictures), designates National Editorial Association which supplies pictures of news events all over the world.

BODY TYPE - The type used for most of the matter printed in The News. In our case, it is 7 point.

COLUMN - A column of type, 12 picas or two inches, wide, is approximately 20 inches deep in The News. A "column" also is the vernacular for a specially written article by a feature writer.

COMPOSITOR - A typesetter in the composing room.

COMPOSING ROOM - The area containing all typesetting machines and facilities for the mechanical production of a newspaper.

COPY - Any written material to be reproduced in type.

CUT - A photograph in metal. Cuts are made by the photoengraver, who transfers the images of a photographic print to zinc.The zinc plate, transferred to the stereotyper's mat and eventually reproduced on the press plate, is inked and reproduced just like type.

OUTLINES - The descriptive words appearing under a picture in the paper.

DUMMY - Miniature newspaper pages on which the city editor, news editor and managing editor instruct the composing room where stories are to be placed in the page forms.

EAR - This is the little space in the upper corners of Page 1. On The News, the right ear contains the weather forecast.

GALLEY - A long composing room tray to hold type before it is placed in page forms. A "galley proof" is a rough reproduction of a story, "pulled" from temporarily inked type lying in a galley.

GESB - Symbol for the Gannett Empire State Bureau in Albany.

GNS - Symbol for Gannett National Service in Washington, which provides exclusive national news to The News and other Gannett newspapers.

HEAD (Headline) - This is the words, set in 1arger type than is used in the story that follows, explaining what the story is all about, in summary.

KILL - Eliminate that story. Throw that type away. This order is given whenever a new story comes up that makes the old story worthless even before it appears in print.

LAYOUT - The design of an advertisement, or the pattern of photographs and type to be reproduced in the paper.

LEAD (rhymes with creed) - The first paragraph of a news story.

LEAD (rhymes with bed) - Strips of metal used in the composing room to separate one line of type from another, for the purpose of producing greater white space between lines.

LINOTYPE - A typesetting machine. When a letter key is punched, a mold slides down a track, comes in contact with molten lead and casts that particular letter in type.

MAKEUP - Similar to layout. It is a noun covering the general appearance of a page.

MASTHEAD - The part of the editorial page that contains the vital statistics of The News. This term also refers to the front page name line of a newspaper.

PICA - It is a printer's measure. There are six picas to an inch.

PIE - Mixed up type.

POINT - A term of measure for type. One point is 1-72 of an inch in depth. A vertical inch is 72 points.

PROOF - An impression in ink of type, made by a small press so that the stories and photographs may be examined -before they appear in the paper.

RAILROADING - A last minute rush of type to the page forms and into the ,paper without time for proofreading or correction.

STEREOTYPING - This converts a page .form full of type into a cylindrical metal plate to be fitted to a rotary press.