News Paper Research

Layout, typical features and technical terms...
Some or all of these may be found on the front pages of newspapers. I have researched these in order to be able to use more technical language throughout my coursework and be able to refer to the terms directly


•Box-out – A small part of the page, shaded in a different colour.


•By-line – he name of the reporter, if they are important is often included at the beginning of the feature, rather than at the end, or not at all.


•Caption – typed text under photographs explaining the image.


•Credits – the author of a feature may be given credit in the form of a beeline. Photographs may have the name of the person who took them or the agency that supplied them alongside them.


•Crosshead – this is a subheading that appears in the body of the text and is centred above the column of text. If it is se to one side then it is called a side-head.


•Exclusive – this means that newspaper and no one else solely cover the story. The paper will pay their interviewees, buying the story so it cannot be used by another paper.


•Feature – not necessarily a ‘news’ item (current affairs), but usually with a human-interest angle presented as a spread.


•Headline – this is the main statement, usually in the largest and boldest font, describing the main story. A banner headline spans the full width of the page.


•Kicker – this is a story designed to stand out from the rest of the page by the use of a different font (typeface) and layout.


•Lead Story - the main story on the front page, usually a splash.


•Lure – a word or phrase directing the reader to look inside the paper at a particular story or feature.


•Masthead – the masthead is the title block or logo identifying the newspaper at the top of the front-page. Sometimes an emblem or a motto is also placed within the masthead. The masthead is often set into a block of black or red print or boxed with a border; the ‘Red-tops’ (The Sun, The Mirror, The News of the World) are categorised by style and the use of a red background in the masthead.


•Menu – the list of contents inside the paper.


•Pugs – these are at the top left and right-hand corners of the paper and are known as the ‘ears’ of the page. The prices of the paper, the logo or a promotion are positioned there. They are well placed to catch the reader’s eye.


•Secondary Lead – this is usually only a picture and headline, it gives a sneak preview of a story that you might find inside the paper.


•Sidebar – when a main feature has an additional box or tinted panel along side of it.


•Splash – the splash is the main story on the front of the paper. The largest headline will accompany this, along with a photograph.


•Spread – a story that covers more than one page.


•Standfirst – this is an introductory paragraph before the start of the feature. Sometimes it may be in bold.


•Strapline – this is an introductory headline below the headline.


•Tag – a word or phrase used to engage a reader’s interest in a story by categorising it e.g. ‘Exclusive’, ‘Sensational’.