The Skinny About Media Lingo
Broadcasters, editors, publishers and other media people use journalism terms and other jargon. mediabistro readers are “media-savvy” but may not always know what it means when a magazine editor asks that you go long with a warm-and-wonder or violin piece.
These terms, and about 2000 others, are defined in my new book, The Language of the Media: The Skinny About Best Boys, Dollies, Green Rooms, Leads and Other Media Lingo.) A long title, I know, but a low price ($14.95). Here are some more terms used by magazine editors and others in the media industry:
To go long is write an article that is longer than average, such as a 20,000-word article in The Atlantic. Warm-and-wonder is a heartwarming upbeat article. A violin piece is a lead story (first major article) that sets the tone for the magazine, particularly if it’s a theme issue (devoted to a single subject).
Are you a freelancer? In the Middle Ages (from about the 6th to the 16th centuries), a “free lance” was a mercenary or independent solider, with a lance or spear, who sold his services. Carrying out this tradition, freelancers (men and women) now sometimes combat with editors.
Are you a stringer? A stringer is a correspondent, generally part-time, for a newspaper or other publication, who is not on staff. The origin is from “on the string,” being paid a variable amount depending on the quantity of writing accepted by the editor. In the 19th and early 20th century, some editors paid a part-time reporter by keeping the reporter’s clippings tied together on a string and literally paid by the number of clippings or the number of column inches published, also perhaps measured with a string. Another possible origin comes from the era of hot metal, when type was assembled in a galley tray. Each writer’s lines of type were tied together with a string.
Read on here.
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