Jargon used in Journalism: How we Cheese Argot in Newsrooms (H to S)

Journalism Jargon H to S or go to previous A to G

Happy Talk: The casual banter between news anchors and other people “on air” is happy talk. In India, it is slightly different: we happy talk a lot on salary days, you see.

Jingle: Short piece of music played on radio to identify a regular feature, or program

Jumpline or ‘Conti’: A line of type at the bottom of an incomplete newspaper or magazine article that directs the reader to another page where the story is continued

Kicker: A few words at the beginning of a headline, top of the introduction to a story, or caption to grab the reader's attention.

Kill, or Spike: To cancel or delete all or part of a story, or to ‘kill’ an article submitted for publication (Spike)

Kill fee: A reduced fee paid to a freelance journalist for a story that is not used.

MF: No, it’s not the word you use in the middle of tough day. ‘Mf’ stands for ‘more-to-follow.’ It is typed at the end of copy to signify that there is more of the story to come, either on another page or later in the process.

Mojo: Mobile journalists who use light and portable reporting and communications tools such as mobile camera phones, PDAs and notebook wireless computers to record, edit and transmit their work in text, audio, pictures and video while in the field, without using an office

Morgue: Our journalism also reflects our violent world. ‘Morgue’ here is actually a peaceful, docile space. ‘Morgue’ is a newsroom’s library, where old newspapers, clippings and pictures are stored for reference

Noddy: In television, a shot of a reporter or interviewer listening to an interviewee’s answer, often nodding his head. That head when being interviewed – That is why I never nod my head when being interviewd. I’d certainly dislike being called ‘Noddy Ngulllie.’

Nut Graf: It is a paragraph telling the essential elements of a story briefly, i.e. ‘in a nutshell’

Nut Graf (also ‘bullet points’): It refers to a paragraph or box containing the essential elements of a story. That you know. Next, please.

Orphan: That’s the first sentence of a paragraph left incomplete. Poor thing.

Pack Journalism: “When individual journalists competing for coverage of an event or issue act together, like a pack of dogs chasing the same quarry”

Pitman: It is shorthand mainly used in Britain and associated countries. Pitman is a faster shorthand system – that is why I use Teeline because I like cruising and enjoying the scenery.

Pork (Mainly US): Nothing to do with Nagaland here. Pork is materials gathered by a journalist but withheld for later use or whenever required

Put to bed: You ‘put to bed’ a newspaper when you have finished work on preparing the next edition and has begun printing it

Re-jig: You ‘regij’ when you rewrite a story or reorganise a page by moving elements around

Scare Quote: That is the word or short phrase placed between quotation marks (‘’ or “) when they are not necessary but to emphasize on the incongruity, bizarreness of a statement, or to suggest disbelief. Example: The Home Minister said the rise in prices of essential commodities in Delhi was due to "global warming."

Scrum: A gathering of reporters around a person, all competing to ask questions or take photographs

Slug: A keyword or phrase that identifies a news story or the reporter while it is being prepared for final editing

I always use slugs in my news reports just in case they get lost in the reporters’ archives: For example, ‘CM on Oil Issue June 1 Story Batman Ngullie.’

Spill, or Jump (US): The continuation of a story from one page to another. In Nagaland, we call it ‘Continuation.’ It is local, you see.

Stab, or Sting: Another reflection of our violent world, I suppose. It is actually the short, pre-recorded sound inserted into a program to create a pause or provide a break between different segments. It is a short piece of music (from 5 to 30 seconds) played in program breaks or to add drama. Stings are either dramatic music or based on station identification melodies

Stop Press: In newspapers, the space left blank in a finished newspaper layout to accommodate urgent breaking news, or the process of stopping the printing process to insert breaking news. 

Go to Journalism Jargon T to Z or go to previous A to G

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