accuracy
Accuracy acts as a principle value and practice within the journalism industry. Journalists strive to provide factual and credible information to their audiences, which occurs through fact-checking, transparency, and corrections.
activist
An activist is an individual who campaigns and raises awareness for a particular political or social issue, often with the intention to change current political policies.
agenda
Agenda setting describes the news media’s impact on influencing what audiences think about. In other words, news organizations have the ability to influence what information, or topics, hold priority and importance on the public’s agenda and within consumers’ minds.
authenticity
Authenticity refers to the quality of being legitimate or genuine.
Authentic media and content refer to products that stay true to their brand, rather than conforming to other standards. Advertisers try to make their content appear authentic to appeal audiences and build trust. Consumers and audiences often judge the authenticity of content based on the company’s or individual’s previous appearances and branding. If an individual changes their values or promotes something that went against their previous stance, then the individual could be viewed an inauthentic and disingenuous. For instance, if a company knowingly advocates for animal rights, but partners with a group known to participate in harmful activities, then that could cause claims of inauthentic marketing.
Companies, content and individuals often appear inauthentic if their brand voice changes and they present themselves differently to their audiences – especially, when the ideals or values are contradictory. These groups may focus on outside competition and change their presentation and marketing style. If a particular trend is performing well in digital platforms, an entity may jump on the bandwagon, seemingly abandoning their typical brand style. Authenticity could also be related to the type of content being covered, the types of keywords used in marketing endeavors, and the promotional partners being worked with — among others.
bias
Bias or biases involve pre-established viewpoints individuals have about certain topics, people or causes, which can influence their behaviors and reporting practices.
campaign
In media and marketing departments, a campaign refers to a prepared project executed through a particular medium with a designated purpose or messaging.
citizen journalism
Citizen journalism involves journalism practices (e.g., dissemination of information) conducted by individuals who are not trained, professional journalists. Citizen journalism was made easier by social media and digital technologies. Citizen journalists include individuals who intend to report on news as well as those who simply share information on social media that is newsworthy.
An example of citizen journalism would be when a regular citizen shares a video that they took of a tornado traveling through their local community. Sharing that video would be an act of citizen journalism. Anyone can be a citizen journalist.
civic engagement
Civic engagement refers to people’s participation in topics of public and social concern, especially activities relating to political or nonprofit organizations that benefit the greater community or spur positive change within society. For example, this includes activities like volunteering (e.g. at community gardens or food pantries) and electoral participation.
column
In the journalism industry, a column is a regular feature in a newspaper where a columnist writes about timely topics, expressing their opinion for audiences.
conservative
Conservative refers to a political viewpoint that promotes the preservation of traditional institutions, practices, and values. People who agree with conservative ideas tend to support the maintaining of economic, social, and political traditions.
constituent
Constituents are individuals in a society who a particular government official or political figure represents during legislative developments.
For instance, Pennsylvania voters elected politicians John Fetterman and Bob Casey to the US Senate. The senators’ role is to represent their constituents’ viewpoints during debates and legislative decision making. The constituents had the opportunity to vote for their representatives during annual elections.
context
Context refers to the situations or circumstances (aka: background information) surrounding an event. Readers need context to orient themselves when consuming information they are unfamiliar with.
cultural moment
A pop culture moment or cultural moment refers to events happening instantaneously around the world and that catch the public’s attention through media content.
culture
Culture involves the collective or shared components of a group of people (e.g., a nation or community). Culture typically involves components like art and social customs.
current events
Current events refers to the idea of timely occurrences (political, popular culture, or social) transpiring at the moment. Journalists work to cover current events.
democracy
Democracy is a form of government in which people have a voice in the deliberation about political decisions. In some democratic settings, constituents choose legislative representatives to vocalize the groups’ viewpoints during political deliberations.
demographic
A demographic is a particular division or subset of a population categorized by particular factors related to the identify of an individual. These include age, sex, education, nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
digital
Many media outlets transitioned from analog (e.g., paperback books and magazines), to digital media, which involves information shared via devices like podcasts and electronic books.
digital organizing
Digital organizing is a phenomenon in which people use digital technologies for outreach and organizing mass efforts. Digital organizing could entail emailing a petition or sharing social media posts to encourage people to participate in an upcoming protest.
doomscrolling
Doomscrolling is an activity where people continuously scroll through their social media feed, often for long periods of time and involving negative or challenging content.
engagement
Engagement refers to a measure or level of audience interactions with social media and online engagement. Engagement is assessed according to the average amount of social media interactions that content receives in relationship to an account’s following base. Engagement metrics include the number of likes, the impressions and reach that the content had (how many accounts it reached) and the response rate. Many platforms provide a precise breakdown for the engagement demographics. For instance, companies may learn how many millennials engaged with the content and which gender was targeted most.
facts
Facts are true, proven and known components of a news story. Facts can be backed and supported by outside resources like empirical data, research, and observations. Facts are objective, and they can be proven true or false based on reliable evidence. A journalist may gain facts through interviews or research to add to their story.
People can verify the statement, “The capital of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg,” using maps and exterior documents. Thus, it would be considered a fact.
Meanwhile, statements like, “State College is the best city in Pennsylvania,” is an opinion. It is not a fact because there people have different thoughts about this claim, and it cannot be verified.
focus group
A small group of individuals comprise a focus group, providing their opinions about a particular idea, issue, or object, generally for market research purposes.
Gen-Z
Gen-Z or Generation Z is a demographic of the population which includes individuals born after the Millennials and before Generation Alpha. Although debated, researchers classify the mid-to-late 1990s through the early 2010s as the timeline for Gen-Z births.
generational divide
A generational divide involves differences in behaviors, opinions or beliefs between different age groups.
hate speech
Hate speech is a form of communication that entails threatening expression. It often includes demonstrating prejudice against another group (e.g., based on religion).
headline
A headline is the title given to a journalistic article that briefly and succinctly summarizes its contents. The role of the headline is to entice audiences to consume the media content further.
hot topic
A hot topic issue is a subject that many people are discussing and likely contains ranging views that spurs disagreements.
Some examples of current, hot topic issues include gun control, abortion, animal rights, vaccines, and climate change.
For many of these topics, people possess a range of views. Some people may desire extreme gun control to alleviate violence, while others advocate for 2nd Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. There are also people who hold beliefs in between the two extremes.
infographics
Infographics act as visual diagrams, descriptions and charts that simplify complex topics or represent information and data in a comprehensive way.
issue
An issue is a topic of journalistic coverage that guides the article writing conducted by reporters.
Reporters—or their editors—research the topics that are popular with the public and timely for coverage. Journalists may gain these insights by talking with people in the community or researching daily news events that they could write about.
If the journalist discovers an issue that they would like to cover, they may “pitch,” or present, it to their editor. If the editor approves their idea, they will be able to cover it. However, sometimes an editor will have a story that they will assign to a particular reporter. The indivduals who make these decisions about what topics to cover are called “gatekeepers” because they determine what information reaches audiences.
January 6
The reference to January 6, 2021 or the United States Capitol Attack refers to the events that followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential defeat.
journalist
A journalist is a trained professional who creates, prepares and distributes content for newspapers, magazines, broadcasts, and news websites. They follow basic ethical principles like accuracy, transparency and neutrality, which builds audience’s trust in the news being distributed. Journalists are not required to complete a certain education level or certification process in order to enter the profession. Some people enter the field with no experience. However, most journalists have a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
messaging
Messaging refers to the act of distributing and processing information via a communication channel like texting, email, and electronic means.
Millennial
Millennial is a term denoting a portion, or demographic, of the population between Generation X and Generation Z. People generally accept millennials to be born between 1981 and 1996.
misinformation
Misinformation involves inaccurate or blatantly false information that when shared, deceives others into improperly understanding a situation or topic.
Misinformation should not be confused with disinformation. Disinformation involves misleading information that was intentionally or deliberately used to deceive others. For instance, government-based propaganda would be an example of disinformation because the entity that created the content desired to mislead recipients of that messaging.
neutrality
Neutrality is the state of not supporting any side, presenting facts without judgement or options.
news avoidance
Selective news avoidance is the practice in which people selectively avoid the news on certain topics. Reasons for avoiding may be a result of feelings exhausted/worn out by the news, a lack of trust in the news, and/or a belief that the news is too negative or overabundant.
For more information, check out News Over Noise Episode 101.
news cycle
The news cycle involves the path a news/media story undergoes from the instance of first coverage until the final reports.
overcorrection
In acknowledging their personal biases that influence their writing and reporting, some journalists change their techniques drastically in an attempt to appear unbiased. However, in trying to adjust their reporting techniques to avoid bias (e.g., reporting on particular sources or using certain wording), the journalist may produce content leaning in the opposite direction. This is called overcorrection, and may also be referred to as overcorrecting biases.
oversight
Following the development of social media and technological platforms, many individuals and organizations advocate for increased oversight for the online platforms to ensure proper community guidelines are being followed.
Oversight refers to the supervision or surveillance of a platform to ensure proper behaviors.
partisan issues
Partisan issues are topics that different political parties (e.g., republican, democrat) hold particular views about. Partisan issues include environmental protection, gun legislation, medical freedoms, and military involvements, among other things.
personal responsibility
Personal responsibility involves being accountable and self-awareness for the decisions and actions being made.
pirate
Pirating involves illegally using, copying or reproducing an individual’s work without their permission. Pirating often infringes on copyright legislation and patents.
political engagement
Political engagement involves the activities people participate in to express their viewpoints about political matters. Some examples of political engagement include voting and activism.
progressive
Progressive describes a political viewpoint that desires improvement to equality, positively advancing human conditions within society. When used as a noun, a progressive is a person who advocates or implements social reform or new liberal ideas. People who agree with progressive ideas tend to support social and economic reform that promotes increased equality.
public discourse
Public discourse refers to dialogue that transpires in a public forum where people of diverse backgrounds contribute opinions regarding decisions.
relevance
Relevance or relevancy refers to how timely, suited and appropriate content is for particular audiences.
reliability
Reliability is a quality of journalism that involves being trustworthy and consistent in the media content’s quality. Reliability helps news organizations form a consistent and loyal audience.
Journalists must determine whether their sources and information are reliable and accurate. However, the editorial team also checks information to ensure accuracy of the coverage.
research
Research involves searching for information from credible sources like websites, news sites, and academic journals to find a better understanding of particular topics. It is a form of investigation into a particular topic.
responsible consumption
Responsible consumption is a concept where people carefully consider their relationship with news and media, ensuring they consider the content being consumed and the impact of that media on one’s mental health.
social media
Social media includes applications like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, among others, that facilitate the sharing of ideas and networking among social circles online.
social media strategist
A social media strategist aids companies, organizations, and individuals to create quality content for their social media platforms. To effectively accomplish this role, they conduct market research, consider the target audience and plan the best ways to maximize engagement.
society
Society refers to the extensive group of individuals cohabiting together. Within a society, social interactions and community sharing occurs between members.
sound bite
A sound bite is a short snippet from recorded audio, often from an interview.
source
Sources include the people, organizations, or applications from which journalists gather information for their news project.
A reputable source is one that is credible and believable to gather or learn information from. They are likely backed by evidence, empirical data, and outside research.
story frame
A story frame references how a journalistic narrative is written using a particular perspective, focus, or angle.
A journalist may focus on a particular aspect of an issue when interviewing sources and writing their article. In doing so, they will likely ignore other components about the topic. For instance, rather than covering the broad issue of sex trafficking, a journalist may focus on how that issue impacts their local community or the resources available to survivors. In other words, the story frame is the angle or focus that the journalist takes their article.
streaming
Streaming refers to a method of receiving information, specifically video or audio, through computer technology.
traditional media outlets
Traditional media outlets consist of established organizations that are well-known and trusted by audiences due to years of operation in the media industry. For instance, traditional media outlets in the broadcasting industry include companies like National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The New York Times acts as an example of a traditional news outlet.
traditional news consumers
Traditional news consumers are the individuals that typically compose a news organization’s audience.
trends
Trends entail tracking particular continuities, changes, or developments in data, especially for technological or media organizations.
trolling
Trolling refers to the digital action of interacting online (via posting or commenting) with deliberate intentions to upset others or cause negative emotions. Trolling often involves stalking or harassing someone in order to cause harm (e.g., spurring them to take down their account).
Online trolls are people that participate in the act of trolling.
For more information, listen to News Over Noise Episode 106.
truth
A prominent principle of journalism is truth, referring to the veracity or truthfulness of content.
unbiased journalism
Unbiased journalism involves objectively presenting facts within a news report without inserting a journalist’s or organization’s opinions about the issue or event.
youth turnout
Youth turnout refers to the number of people in the younger generation (i.e.,18-29 year olds) who participated in an election.