Dive into the world of journalism with this comprehensive guide to essential journalism terms. Learn the language of reporting and storytelling to enhance your writing skills.

Before actually entering the journalist profession , it would be a good idea for you to enrich your knowledge by understanding some of the frequently used journalistic terms below. Some of these may have been heard, but do you know their meaning correctly?

Understanding Journalism Terms: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Hard news

Hard news  is a type of news that contains topics that are very time bound and must be reported as soon as possible.

Usually  hard news  covers news topics in the fields of international, politics, economics, sports and politics.

This type of news must contain factual data and in-depth research. At a minimum, journalists must be able to answer 5W + 1H questions.

2. Soft news

In contrast to  hard news, soft news  is a lighter type of news and generally contains entertainment information or news for the personal needs of viewers.

Examples are news about  lifestyle, films, food, travel, fashion, skincare, and so on.

Even though it is not  hard news, this type of news must also contain factual information and be accountable.

3. Features

The next journalistic term that you need to understand is  feature.

Reporting from the BBC , a feature is a journalistic product that contains writing that is longer and in-depth than news. Through features, usually people will discuss news from a different angle  .

The structure is quite more flexible compared to news which must follow the inverted pyramid method.

One of the distinctive characteristics of  features  is the story telling style of writing  which combines news and opinion.

4. Inverted pyramid

What is  an inverted pyramid?

In journalism,  the inverted pyramid  is a term for setting information priorities that journalists must adhere to when compiling news.

In Indonesian,  inverted pyramid  means upside down pyramid. So, according to its form, information priorities must be arranged from the most important and attract attention.

After that, the bottom section can be filled in with more general information.

5. Column

A column is an opinion piece written independently by an individual.

Column writers are called columnists. Because it contains opinions, the author will review an event from his subjective point of view.

Slightly different from news writing which tends to be very formal, column language style is considered more relaxed and easy to understand.

6. Data journalism

This journalistic term is heard more and more often thanks to the increasing use of data in news reporting.

Data journalism is a type of journalism whose products are based on very comprehensive data analysis.

The results of this analysis are then processed into information that is easily digested by the public. This part is the main challenge for data journalists.

7. Headlines

In the field of journalism,  headlines  can have two different meanings.

Reporting from Indeed ,  a headline  is the text at the very beginning of an article or news item that contains a summary of the entire content.

However, according to North Dakota University , headlines  are news titles that we will find on the very first page of a newspaper, magazine or  website.

So, if your boss or colleague mentions the term  headline,  it’s okay to confirm what they mean instead of miscommunication.

8. Citizen journalism

Just like data journalism,  citizen journalism is also a type of journalism, where the public plays an active role in collecting and reporting news.

They are not journalists, but can still contribute in selecting and disseminating information to the general public.

Apart from contributing in written form, they can also focus on citizen photojournalism , namely producing journalistic photography works .

9. Human interest

Human interest is a journalistic term that describes a news story that arouses the emotions, interest, motivation and sympathy of the audience.

Usually this type of news will focus on an issue regarding a figure, group of people, traditions or culture through emotional reporting.

One example that is often encountered is news about a group or person experiencing discrimination.

10. Leads

The lead is the opening paragraph in a news story that contains the most important information but can still attract the attention of readers.

Sounds simple, right? However, for those of you who just want to become a journalist, you need  sufficient writing skills  to create leads  that meet the criteria.

No need to worry because you can find various types of  leads  so you can vary them in your news, such as  summary leads, analogy leads,  and  delayed identification leads.

11. Byline

Byline  is a journalistic term that tells readers who the author of a story is.

When reading news in  online  and print media, you can definitely find  bylines  that are located quite differently.

Starting at the top between the title and  lead or at the bottom after the reader has finished reading the news.

12. Anchors

Have you ever heard the term  news anchor?

They are the newsreaders you often hear on television or radio.  News anchor  is just one of the many profession options in the world of journalism that you can choose.

The main task is to present and write news and help  reporters  to gather information.

13. Correspondent

A correspondent is a journalist or commentator who prepares and presents news in a different location from  the news anchor.

Usually they are sent to cover an event outside the city, region or even country. The correspondent will then regularly send news to the editor every predetermined time period.

This profession in the field of journalism is quite challenging because you don’t know where you will be sent to cover an incident and what issue it is related to.

Remember, this term is different from correspondence, which is a correspondence activity carried out by a number of parties.

14. Advertorials

The next term in the field of journalism is advertorial , which is a form of advertising presented by combining journalistic and  advertising writing styles.

That’s why this is called an advertorial, because it contains a combination of  advertisement  and  editorial concepts.

So, even though the aim is to promote something, advertorials must still follow journalistic rules.

Not only can they be found in printed newspapers, advertorials are also commonly found in  online  media which usually have the sponsored content label.

15. Attribution

Reporting from Thought.co , attribution is a part of the news that informs readers about the source of the news.

As a journalist, you may not always have first access to information, but instead have to ask other sources such as the police, eyewitnesses, residents, etc.

So, you need to state this clearly in the news, for example with the sentence “Ahmad Hidayat, one of the local residents revealed that this is not the first time this theft.”

These are some terms in the world of journalism that you need to know the meaning of.

Apart from the terms above, of course there are many other important topics related to this professional field that should not be missed.

No need to worry, Glints has prepared a collection of related articles on the Glints Blog!

There are lots of discussions that you can find, especially regarding the terms above which are discussed in more detail.