Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Broadcast Journalism Terms
Broadcast Journalism Terms
Advocacy Journalism – In which the reporter or journalist openly declares their stance on an
Active Proceedings – Any ongoing judicial case in which the activities of journalists may
impede or subvert the proceedings, typically spanning between the arrest of a suspect and
sentencing. Those who contravene reporting restrictions on active proceedings may be held in
contempt of court.
Actuality – Sometimes shortened to “act.” Any audio recording taken outside of the studio on
Anchor – News anchors are responsible for presenting stories on-camera, usually from a studio
location though work can take place in the field. See our broadcast journalism jobs page for more
AP Stylebook – The Associated Press Stylebook, commonly adhered to as the industry standard
Aston – An increasingly uncommon term for the strap line, more popularly known in broadcast
Attribution – The written phrase that identifies the source of a fact, opinion, or quote in a story.
Back Timing – The practice of rehearsing the final segment of a news broadcast and timing it;
during the live broadcast, the director may then speed up or slow down this segment to coincide
Backgrounder – A story used to provide history and context to a current news story.
Beats – The areas of expertise in which a journalist or reporter covers on a regular basis and on
Beat Checks – A list of established contacts that a beat reporter will frequently touch base to
find or develop a story. These could include the local law enforcement agency, city council,
Blind Interview – More common in print than in broadcast journalism, a blind or off-the-record
interview is one in which the interviewee is intentionally left unaccredited (also known as a non-
attributable.)
Breakbumper – A short (2-10 second) indent used as filler leading into and out of commercial
breaks. Often shortened to “bump,” but not to be confused with the verb of the same name (to
graphical overlays.
Chroma Key – Also known as green screening. See this post for further information.
Chyron – The words on the screen that identify speakers, locations, or story subjects. Chryon is
Citizen Journalism – Reporting which takes place outside of what is usually considered
mainstream media, predominantly carried out by members of the public without formal training.
Cold Open – Any type of video which rolls before the camera cuts to the anchors, usually
Correspondent – A reporter who files stories from outside the newsroom—usually someone
Crawl – AKA the news ticker, a thin bar of scrolling text which informs viewers of any
Cutaway – A shot of something other than the main action of an action sequence. In an
interview, the cutaway is usually a shot of the reporter listening as the source talks. Necessary to
Dateline – The specific location where a reporter is delivering a story. Usually announced in the
sign-out or sign-off.
Donut – A produced news package with a live shot, with a live intro, and tag.
Downcut – Chopping off the end of a story or sound bite. Opposite of upcut.
Effort – A verb in newsrooms, as in “I am efforting that package to have it ready for tonight’s
broadcast.”
Feature – A non-breaking news story on people, trends, or issues. A feature story isn’t
Follow-Up – A story updating or supplying additional details about an event that’s been
previously covered.
Fullscreen Graphic or FS – A still or animated image, usually computer generated, that takes
Happy Talk – Casual, informal, and light-hearted chatter between the anchors. Can be used as a
form of bumper.
Hard News – The news of the day. Factual coverage of serious, timely events (crime, war,
Hot or Overmodulated – Either too loud (hot audio) or too bright (hot video). Engineers often
Hot Roll – When a crew in the field doesn’t have enough time to feed back footage to the
newsroom, so they must roll it live from the truck during the broadcast.
Human Interest – A news story focusing on a personality or individual’s story with wide appeal
to a general audience.
IFB or Interrupt Feedback – The earpiece through which a director or producer instructs a
correspondent in the field or anchor in the studio. The producer interrupts whatever feedback the
Join in Progress (JIP) – A direction to the control room to cut to a broadcast already in
progress.
Jump Cut – An edit in a news package that interrupts continuity. Example: an interviewee
speaking followed immediately by another shot of the same interviewee speaking at a different
to be confused with the “lead story,” being the first presented in the broadcast and often the
Lip Flap – Video of somebody talking, with the audio portion muted. Happens when using
Lower Third – The bottom third of the frame containing text information regarding the current
Miscue – An error in which footage or audio is played before its intended time, resulting in
MOS – An acronym for “man on street” interview, in which a reporter on location gets
spontaneous sound bites comprised of reactions to a story from members of the public. Also
NATSOT or NAT Package – A type of pre-produced package that has no reporter track; the
only audio is the natural sound of the video being shown. It may also use interview sound bites.
NAT Sound – Natural sound on video that the microphone picks up. Example: Including sound
News Envelope – A summary segment in which the main headlines are broadcast in brief
story. Used for transition between voiceovers or soundbites, or when there is no video to talk
over.
answer.
Outcue – The final three or four words of a news package, included in scripts to signal to the
anchor and control room staff when the package is about to end so they can cue the next element
in the program.
Over the Shoulder Graphic or OTS or OC Box – A graphic that appears over the anchor’s
shoulder.
POV or Point-of-View Shot – B-roll shot from the perspective of the subject, illustrating what
Production Element – Any piece of audio which is intended for use within the final mix, i.e.
channel is carrying.
Pronouncer – Phonetic spelling of word in story, placed in copy behind correctly spelled word.
Raw Video – Unedited video, just as it was shot. Also called field video.
Reader – A script read entirely by the anchor on camera, without sound bites or video.
Remote – A live shot from the field, where a satellite truck is required to transmit the image.
Rundown – An electronic or paper form created by the line producer of a news broadcast. Gives
specific details of every element in a newscast, including the order of stories, video, audio, and
ROSR – Radio On Scene Report. Audio broadcast from the scene of a breaking news story, or
Rundown – An electronic or paper form created by the line producer of a news broadcast. Gives
specific details of every element in a newscast, including the order of stories, video, audio and
Sidebar – A small story, graphic, or chart accompanying a bigger story on the same topic.
Sign Off, Sig, Sig Out – Reporter giving name and dateline at the end of a package or report.
Slate – A full-screen graphic, shown on screen before the beginning of pre-produced video
which identifies the story title, the reporter’s name, and the total running time. Only for
SOT or Sound Bit – “Sound on Tape.” A recorded comment, usually audio and video, from a
news source other than the anchor, narration, or voiceover, played during a news story. Usually
Spot – A commercial.
Stacking – Lining up stories within a newscast based on their important and relationship to one
another.
previously covered.
Still – A still image as opposed to a moving video image. Stills can be used to illustrate a story
and can sometimes be displayed over track or interview clips instead of video footage.
Sting – A brief piece of music, typically less than fifteen seconds, used to punctuate the end of a
Stop Set – The time allotted to any commercial breaks within the broadcast.
Survey Week, Sweeps Week – The week in which a station’s viewership is monitored and
rated.
Switch – An instruction given to the control room to cut to another camera or video source.
Tag – A paragraph at the end of a news story, usually delivered by the anchor, that provides
Tease – A short description of an upcoming story designed to keep the viewer watching through
commercial breaks.
Tight on – A direction to the camera crew to zoom in on a subject so that they fill the shot (e.g.
“Tight on anchor/guest.”)
Time Code – The time signature on a camera or recording device—actual time a story is being
shot on a 24-hour basis, i.e., 1300 is 1 p.m., 0900 is 9 a.m. Includes hours, minutes, seconds, and
video frames.
Toss – When an anchor or reporter turns over a portion of the show to another anchor or
reporter.
Two-Shot – Most often an interview guest and the back of the reporter’s head. Also used to refer
to any shot including two people; two anchors at a single news desk, for instance.
Upcut – Chopping off the beginning of the audio or video of a shot or video story. Opposite of
downcut.
Video Journalist or VJ – A reporter who shoots his or her own video and may even edit it. Also
VO or Voiceover – “Voiceover” followed by “sound on tape.” A news script, usually read live,
VOSOT – “Voiceover” followed by “sound on tape.” A news script, usually read live, that
Watermark – A semi-transparent graphic, usually the station’s logo, placed in one corner of the
broadcast feed.
Woodshedding – The practice of annotating a news script to denote which words should be