The news room of a big-city newspaper hums with activity as the editorial staff

hurries to prepare stories on the day’s events. These writers and editors are using special
computer terminals to enter their stories into the newspaper's electronic editing system.

The staff of a small weekly newspaper may consist of only the editor and a few
assistants. Together, they do all the work, from gathering and writing the news to
printing the paper.

Wire services supply newspapers with news reports and pictures from around the
world. Newspapers receive photographs from wire services over telephoto machines
like the one above.

Newspaper
Newspaper is a publication devoted chiefly to presenting and commenting on the
news. Newspapers provide an excellent means of keeping well informed on current
events. They also play a vital role in shaping public opinion.
Newspapers have certain advantages over the other major news media – television,
radio, and news magazines. For example, newspapers can cover more news – and in
much greater detail – than can television and radio news bulletins. News magazines
concentrate on the chief national and international events of the preceding week. But
daily newspapers report local as well as national and international news on a day-to-day
basis.
A large daily newspaper provides a great variety of information. News stories
cover the latest developments in such fields as government, politics, sports, science,
business, and the arts. Other news stories report crimes, disasters, and special events of
human interest. Editorials and columns of opinion comment on controversial issues.
Informative feature articles examine a wide range of subjects, including fashion, health,
and child care. Comic strips, advice columns, and other entertainment items also appear
regularly in most daily papers.
Producing a daily newspaper requires great speed and efficiency. Reporters,
editors, and photographers work under the constant pressure of deadlines. A large daily
also employs many other workers, including advertising salespeople, artists, librarians,
printing-press operators, and truck drivers. The entire staff must operate as a well-
drilled team if the papers are to reach homes and newsstands on schedule.
This article describes the kinds, organization, production, and business operations
of newspapers. It then traces the history of newspapers.
Kinds of newspapers
Newspapers are printed on coarse paper called newsprint. There are two major
sizes of newspapers – standard and tabloid. A standard-sized newspaper has pages that
measure about 38 by 58 centimetres. The pages of a tabloid are about half that size.
The standard and tabloid sizes are both used in publishing all types of newspapers.
The three main kinds of papers are (1) daily newspapers, (2) weekly newspapers, and
(3) special-interest newspapers.
Daily newspapers print world, national, and local news. They also carry editorials,
opinion columns, feature articles, and entertainment items. Big-city dailies print many
stories on social and political issues, such as the quality of schools and the efficiency of
government.
Many dailies are morning papers, others are afternoon papers, and a few publish
around the clock. In large cities, many morning papers publish several editions—the
first one in early evening and the last one in the early morning. Similarly, many
afternoon papers publish from early morning to late afternoon.
In some countries, additional features and more advertising make Sunday
newspapers much larger than weekday editions. Numerous Sunday papers have special
sections on such topics as entertainment, finance, and travel. They may also include a
Sunday magazine, a guide to television programmes, and coloured comics.
Weekly newspapers, in general, serve much smaller areas than daily papers and
publish news of a more personal nature. In small communities, most people know one
another and take great interest in the activities of their friends and neighbours.
Weddings, births, and deaths are major news items. A fire or traffic accident gets front-
page coverage. Weeklies also report news of local business and politics. Most weekly
newspapers do not carry national or world news.
Special-Interest newspapers print news of concern to particular groups. Many large
companies and trades unions publish newspapers for their members. Newspapers
printed in foreign languages serve foreign-born residents in big cities.
The staff of a newspaper
The number of people needed to produce a newspaper varies greatly. The smallest
weekly papers may have only 1 to 3 workers, who do everything from writing the news,
to selling advertising space, to running the press. Larger weeklies employ 10 to 30
people. The largest metropolitan dailies have more than 1,000 employees.
The staff of a large metropolitan daily is headed by the publisher, who in some
cases owns the paper. The staff of such a paper is divided into three main departments:
(1) the editorial department, (2) the business department, and (3) the mechanical
department.
The editorial department is responsible for the news and features that the paper
prints. The head of the department is called the editor in chief, executive editor, or
simply editor. The editor in chief must have a thorough knowledge of all phases of
newspaper work and know how to deal with people well.
A managing editor helps the editor in chief direct the members of the editorial
staff. Under the managing editor are assistant managing editors and news editors. Other
editors are responsible for news in certain areas. For example, most large dailies have a
city editor, a suburban editor, and a foreign editor. The various sections and
departments of the paper, such as the sports, arts, and financial sections, also have an
editor of their own. Each editor supervises a staff of reporters, writers, and other
workers. Some editors, such as the sports and financial editors, may write a daily
column in addition to their supervisory duties.
The editor in chief directs a staff of editorial writers, as well as the news staff. In
many cases, the publisher helps to guide these writers. Thus, a newspaper's editorials
often express the views of the publisher. Metropolitan dailies also employ special
columnists to write columns of humour, advice, or general information.
 Large newspapers provide special facilities to assist the editorial staff. For
example, a library keeps copies of past stories and pictures as well as such resources as
almanacs and encyclopedias. In addition, artists and photographers need special
facilities to do their work. A newspaper must also have a photo lab where pictures can
be processed speedily.
The business department tries to ensure that the paper makes a profit. A business
manager heads the department with the help of an advertising manager, a circulation
manager, and a promotion manager. The advertising manager directs a staff that sells
advertising space to shops, manufacturers, and other businesses as well as classified ads
to individuals and firms. The circulation manager supervises the distribution of the
newspaper by carriers, newsstands, and mail. The promotion manager develops ways of
drawing attention to the paper to attract new readers and new advertisers. The business
department also has accountants and bookkeepers to handle the financial records.
The mechanical department prints the newspaper. A production manager directs
the departments operations. Some workers set the type, and others arrange the stories,
photographs, and advertising to make up the pages. Still other workers produce the
printing plates from which the newspaper is printed. The printing-press operators lock
the plates on the presses and print the papers. Mailroom personnel assemble the papers
and turn them over to the circulation department
How newspapers are produced
Gathering the news is the first step in the production of a newspaper. A paper gets
the news it prints from two main sources: (1) its own reporters and (2) news services.
Reporters use interviews, research, and investigative techniques to gather
information for their stories. They must have well-developed "news judgment'to sort out
important stories from those that have little public interest.
A newspaper employs several kinds of reporters. Many reporters cover a
speciality. Some speciality reporters are assigned to particular buildings, including
police stations and the criminal courts. Other reporters cover a particular subject, such
as science, education, or consumer affairs. Certain other reporters cover any story to
which they are assigned or which they find on their own. A general assignment reporter
may assist a speciality reporter if too many stories break on a topic for one person to
handle.
The news staff of a big-city newspaper also includes investigative reporters and
stringers. Investigative reporters search out and expose political corruption or other
wrongdoing. They may work weeks or months to get a story or a series of stories.
Stringers do not work full time for the newspaper but occasionally turn in a story.
Stringers for big-city newspapers may have a permanent job with a regional newspaper
or a small radio station.
The largest papers have foreign correspondents in the major cities of the world,
such as London, Paris, Moscow, Washington, and Tokyo. But not even the largest
newspapers can afford to have reporters in all the major cities. As a result, newspapers
depend on news services or wire services for at least part of their national and foreign
news. Each news service has hundreds of reporters in various countries. The news serv-
ices transmit news reports and photographs to newspaper offices over a teleprinter and
telephoto system, or via satellite (see Telephoto; Teleprinter). Major news services
include Agence France-Presse in France, Reuters in the United Kingdom, Tass in
Russia, and Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) in the United
States.
Many papers also get news from news syndicates. A news syndicate is owned by a
newspaper or chain of newspapers with a large staff of reporters around the world. A
syndicate distributes to its clients many stories that it prints in its own paper or papers.
Writing and editing stories. Some reporters write their own stories, but many
stories are written by subeditors. Subeditors do not rewrite material but get the facts,
usually by telephone, from a reporter and assemble them into a story. Subeditors may
also make many phone calls themselves to gather additional information for stories. In
writing a news story, reporters or subeditors begin by giving the important facts in the
first paragraph, which is called the lead. They then present the details in the rest of the
space given to the story by the news editor.
The completed story goes to a copy editor, who checks it for accuracy and writes a
headline for the story. The copy editor may also change the wording in places to make
the story more readable, and must cut material from the story if it is too long.
Many newspapers use computerized editing systems. With these systems, writers
and editors use video display terminals (VDTs) instead of typewriters and pencils. A
VDT consists of a typewriterlike keyboard with an electronic screen attached. As a
reporter or subeditor types out a story on the keyboard, it appears on the screen. Special
keys enable the writer to make corrections, insert information, and rearrange sentences
or paragraphs. The completed story is stored in the computer’s memory banks. At a
touch of a button, a copy editor can call up the story and edit it on a VDT like the one
used by the writer. VDTs are sometimes also called cathode-ray tube terminals (CRTs).
Preparing editorials and features. Each day, a newspaper's editorial writers meet
and select the topics for forthcoming editorials or leaders. They also decide what
viewpoint to take in the editorials. Unlike a news story, an editorial expresses an
opinion and tries to sway readers to that way of thinking.
Feature writers prepare stories on any subject they think would interest the
newspapers readers. Common types of feature articles include interviews with famous
entertainers, stories on unusual organizations, and descriptions of places to visit
Newspapers also get feature material from feature syndicates, which resemble news
syndicates. Feature syndicates provide such items as cartoons, comic strips, crosswords,
and columns on gardening, financial matters, and other subjects.
Setting the type for all the stories, editorials, and feature articles is a big job. Some
newspapers use metal type – small pieces of metal with raised letters on top. However,
an increasing number of newspapers are using photographic type, which consists of
photographic images of letters.
Newspapers that use metal type set the type on a Linotype or a similar machine.
The Linotype produces full lines of type, called slugs, by pouring molten metal into
moulds of each letter. After each slug hardens, it drops into a tray called a galley. See
Linotype.
Photographic type is produced by a method called photocomposition.
Newspapers use several kinds of photocomposition machines, which produce
"galleys" of type on photographic paper. The most modern photocomposition
machines are linked to computers that determine the spacing between words and how
to hyphenate words that are continued on the next line.
Making up the pages. After the type has been proofread, it goes to a worker who
makes up, or lays out, the pages. The worker follows the news editor's rough layout of
where the stories and pictures should appear. To make up a page of metal type, a
worker inserts the galleys of type and engravings of the illustrations into a metal frame
to produce a type forme. To make up a page of photographic type, the stories, ads, and
illustrations are pasted up on a plastic sheet The made-up pages are then used to make
printing plates.
Printing the paper. Newspapers use one of two main printing methods—
letterpress or offset lithography. In letterpress, the printing plates have a printing
surface raised above the background area. In offset lithography, which is often called
simply offset, the printing surface is on the same flat level as the nonprinting parts.
With either method, newspapers are printed on rotary presses, which have cylinders
to hold curved printing plates. But before the printing can begin, workers must
produce the printing plates.
To make a printing plate from a page of metal type, workers first make a mould
of the type forme, using a sheet of cardboardlike paper. They then pour molten metal
into this mould to make a curved printing plate called a stereotype. Newspapers use
stereotypes for letterpress printing.
The first step in producing a printing plate from photographic type is to
photograph the pasted-up page. This process produces a negative of the entire page.
The negative is then placed on a thin metal or plastic plate with a light-sensitive
coating and exposed to bright light. The light passes through the transparent (image)
parts of the negative and hardens the coating under these parts. The other parts of the
negative block the light, and the coating under them remains soft Workers rinse the
plate to wash away the soft, unexposed parts. Only the hard image remains.
Newspapers can use photographically produced plates with either letterpress or
offset printing. For letterpress, the plates must be placed in an acid bath to etch away a
bit of the background and leave the image area slightly raised. Stereotypes are then
made from the etched plates. For offset, the exposed plates are chemically treated in
such a way that the coated image areas will accept ink and the blank background areas
will repel ink. Printers mount these offset plates directly on the printing press. Offset
printing enables a newspaper to skip the etching and stereotyping steps. It is thus faster
than letterpress and requires fewer workers.
After all the printing plates have been made and mounted on the press, the press
goes into action. A roll of paper is drawn through the press, receiving the print of all the
plates. At the farther end of the machine, the paper is cut into sheets and folded into
pages. For more information on printing, see Printing and Photoengraving and
photolithography.
Business operations
Newspapers earn about two-thirds of their income from the sale of advertising
space. Most newspapers get the rest of their income from sales of the paper. The syn-
dication of news stories or features provides additional revenue for some large papers.
A newspapers advertising department handles the sale of ads (advertisements), and the
circulation department manages the distribution and sales of the paper.
Advertising on average, fills about 60 per cent of the space in most newspapers of
the world. Papers sell much of this space to local businesses and individuals. National
firms buy the rest
Newspapers carry two forms of advertising—display ads and classified ads. Most
display ads include illustrations and may be as large as two full pages. Newspapers have
a staff of artists and layout personnel to help prepare these ads. Classified ads appear in
a separate section of the paper. Most consist of a few lines of print and advertise such
things as used cars, job openings, and property for sale or rent.
The advertising manager directs division supervisors, who have charge of various
kinds of advertising, such as advertising for car dealers, department stores, and su-
permarkets. Each division supervisor has a staff of sales representatives who sell ads to
businesses. Workers in the classified-ad department sell ads over the telephone. They
also help people to write their classified ads. In addition to a local advertising staff,
many newspapers have sales representatives in other cities.
Circulation. The distribution of newspapers is a complex operation. After the
papers come off the press, conveyor belts carry them to the mailroom. Most of the
papers are wired into bundles. The rest are addressed for mailing. The bundles of papers
travel down chutes to the loading dock, where trucks are waiting to carry them to
newsstands and distribution centres.
The circulation manager oversees the distribution of papers and works with the
promotion manager…
Newspaper terms
Banner is the top headline on page 1.
Beat is a news field to which a reporter is regularly assigned, such as consumer
affairs or criminal courts,
By-line is the name of the writer of a news story, feature article, or special column.
In most cases, it appears just beneath the headline.
Copy means the manuscript of any news matter prepared for typesetting.
Dateline refers to the line at the beginning of a news story that tells where and, in
some cases, when the story originated.
Deadline is the time limit for a certain stage in preparing material for a particular
edition.
Edition means any issue of the newspaper. Large newspapers issue several
editions during the day or night
Extra is an edition of a newspaper published at a time other than a scheduled
regular edition.
Lead is the opening paragraph of a news story. In most cases, it summarizes the
important information in the story.
Masthead includes the title of the newspaper and the names of the publisher and
principal editors. In most cases, it appears on the editorial page.
Scoop refers to a story obtained by a newspaper without the knowledge of its
competitors. A scoop is also called an exclusive.
Squib means a brief story that is unimportant from a news standpoint and is used
chiefly to fill space.
 Subhead is a short heading used to break up the paragraphs of a long news story.

circulation scoop features

editorials tabloid standard

special-Interest
weekly newspapers banner
newspapers

copy by-line beat

dateline deadline edition

masthead lead extra

 squib subhead comic strip

advice column newsprint editorial staff

editor front page coverage

classified ads reporter columnist

sub-editor news service stringer

headline news story proofread

display ad sound bite silly season

rag gutter press glossy

stop press hit the headlines libel

defamation back issue obituary

supplement agony column mass media

newspaper magazine subscription

 article review spread

coverage current events home news

advertisement cartoon weather report

Activity 5. Match the notions with their definitions

newscast a printed publication, usually issued daily, with news, ads, etc.
newssheet a stand where newspapers, and often magazines and books are
sold
news bulletin an agency that collects news and sells it to the press
newspaper a short message sent by teleprinter or telephone summing in a
few lines an important event
newsflash a news broadcast on sound or television
newsman a radio or TV program on which news items are broadcast
news agency a simple form of newspaper
newsreel a newspaper, magazine, radio or television new sreporter
news stand a short motion picture dealing with current events, usually
 shown in a cinema.
newscast ['njuːzkɑːst] последние известия (передаваемые по радио, телевидению)
news-sheet ['njuːzʃiːt] 1) листовка
news bulletin news bul|letin noun a short radio or television broadcast of news reports
newsflash ['njuːzflæʃ] ; = news flash экстренное (информационное) сообщение
newsman ['njuːzmæn] ; newsmen 1) газетчик, репортёр, корреспондент
newsreel ['njuːzriːl]/ 1. кинохроника, хроникальный фильм; киножурнал
a short film of news and current affairs, formerly made for showing as part of the programme in a
cinema