Glossary
The words of journalism, defined plainly: the vocabulary of newsrooms, agencies and online news.
Agenda-setting
Agenda-setting describes how coverage shapes which issues the public deems important: media say less what to think than what to think about.
Breaking news
Breaking news is major information published while the event is still unfolding. What it means, what it is worth, and why it keeps getting corrected.
Byline
The byline is the line naming who wrote a piece. What it commits, what its variants reveal, and why its absence is a signal.
Correspondent
A correspondent is a journalist based long-term in a territory to cover it at a distance from the newsroom. Role, employment status, and how they differ from envoys.
Dateline
The dateline at the head of a dispatch says where the reporting was filed from. What it genuinely promises the reader, and what it does not.
Desk
The desk is the fixed newsroom post that receives, sorts and shapes material coming in from outside. What a desk does, and why readers never see it.
Editorial line
The editorial line is the set of choices defining what an outlet covers, how, and for whom. What it is, and what it is not.
Embargo
An embargo is a time before which information handed to journalists may not be published. What it is for, and what it does not guarantee.
Fact checking
Fact checking means testing a public claim against verifiable sources. Its two forms, its method, and the questions it cannot settle.
Freelancer
A freelancer is an independent journalist paid per piece. How it works, what it gives newsrooms, and where its fragility lies.
Native advertising
Native advertising is content paid for by an advertiser but shaped like the outlet that carries it. How to spot it, and why it stays contentious.
News flash
A news flash is the first signal of major information: a few words, a source, no context. What it actually tells you, and what it does not yet.
Off the record
Off the record covers what a source tells a journalist without it being quotable. What the deal actually covers, its degrees, and why it holds.
Paywall
A paywall is the mechanism reserving content for subscribers. Its forms, its economics, and what it changes for how information circulates.
Primary source
A primary source produces the information first-hand, with no intermediary. What makes one, and why "primary" does not mean "neutral".
Right of reply
The right of reply lets someone named in a report have their own version published. A legal right in Switzerland and France, absent in other jurisdictions.
RSS feed
An RSS feed is a standard file listing a site's latest content. How it works, what it changes for the reader, and why it has survived.
Scoop
A scoop is a significant piece of information an outlet publishes first, alone in holding it. What separates a real scoop from a few minutes' head start.
Secondary source
A secondary source reports, summarises or analyses what another established. Its real use, its limit, and the trap of the citation chain.
Wire
The wire is the continuous stream of dispatches a news agency sends its clients. How it works, and why the reader never sees it directly.