Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. In this lesson, I'm going to talk about journalism and newspaper vocabulary. So, these are vocabulary words that are used in the news. So, you might see these in online newspapers, in magazines, and in other kinds of reports. Let's get started.
Okay. The first word or group of words I want to talk about is this. It is "article," "piece," or "story." We use these three words to mean the same thing, in most cases. So, these three words refer to an essay, or an opinion, or other writing that is published in media. So, this can be, like I said, someone's opinion, it can be something that was researched, it can be interviews, but it's some writing prepared for publication, prepared to be shared in media of some kind. Like in a magazine, or a newspaper, perhaps a blog, something like that. For example, "This is a really interesting story." So, here "story" is used. When we're using "story" to talk about this kind of writing, it does not mean like fiction story, like a children's story. We use the word "story" to talk about news items as well.
Okay. Let's go to the next expression, which is "according to," according to. So, "according to" is an expression we use to share the source of some information. So, this can be a person, this can be a written document. It can be some kind of writing. It can be a report. It can be any kind of information. Any place you receive information, any place you get information that can be a source. So, you can note the source, you can indicate the source with "according to." For example, "According to witnesses, the suspect broke a window to escape." So, in this case, the source is "witnesses." So, a "witness" is someone who saw something. In this case, a crime. "Witnesses" is the plural, which means according to more than one person who saw what happened, "the suspect broke a window to escape." So, we indicate, we share the source of information with "according to."
Okay. Let's continue to the next expression or the next verb in this case, "to cite," to cite. The pronunciation here is "cite," C-I-T-E. So, "to cite" something means to refer to a written document -- usually a written document, but it can be other media as well, as an information source or a reason for doing something. So, for example, "He cited his professor's book in his essay." So, that means in this person's essay, in his essay, this "he," in his essay he included his professor's book as a source of information. So, that means this was a key place that this writer got his information from. He cited his professor's book. So, we can talk about other sources. Usually, when we use "cite," we're talking about written information. So, this can be a thesis paper, it can be an essay, it can be a newspaper article. So, we cite information, we cite our sources, to make our essays, to make our writing clearer, and to show where we got our information from. So, it's like saying, "This is my opinion. The reason I have this opinion is because I read this information, this information and this information." So, we can check kind of the background of the writing by looking at the things the writer cited. So, "to cite" something is extremely, extremely important if you are preparing documentation at the college or university level. It's very common for students to cite other papers, cite books, and other media sources, in their thesis writing and in other essay writing. So, this is a very important thing to do, "to cite" sources.
Okay. Let's go to the next word, which is "to publish," to publish something. "To publish" means to make writing, or photos, or other media available for people to access. So, "to publish," this is not just for like major magazines or major news websites, we also use publish on blogs. Like when we finish writing an essay on a blog, we might push the button that says, "publish," publish. So, that means make it accessible for other people to read, make it so other people can check that thing. So, "to publish" is a very general word. We can use this on social media as well. Like, "to publish" a photo maybe on Instagram. So, we don't generally use that word, but that's what it means. It means to make something accessible, on media somewhere. For example, "We're going to publish your article next week." "We're going to publish your article next week," means we are going to make your article available for other people to access next week. This can be in print, which I'll talk about in a moment, or it can be online as well.
Okay. On to the next one. The next one is "to research," to research. So, "research" is a very important part of journalism, and any kind of news or reporting, any kind of college study as well. So, "to research" means to look for detailed information about a topic, to research. So, please keep in mind, we don't use "research" for quick everyday checks. Like, we don't really say like, "Please research in the dictionary the definition of this word." We don't use it for that. We use it for detailed information. We're looking for lots and lots of detailed information about something, about a specific topic. We don't use the word "research" to talk about quick checks of information. In those cases, we say "look up." So, "to look something up." So, "to research" sounds like a big project. For example, "She researched the effects of smartphone use on kids." She researched the effect of smartphone use on kids. So, that means she gathered lots and lots of detailed information about this topic, smartphone use on kids.
Okay. On to the next one. The next one is "finding" or "findings." So, you might see this in news reports and in other research-related papers. So, "finding" or "findings," as we sometimes use it, means results of research. So, what did you find after your research? We sometimes call that the "research finding," for one thing, or the "research findings," for other things, for more than one thing rather. So, this means the result or the results of the research. What did you learn? What did you find? We can sometimes call those the "findings of the research." For example, "The research findings show that regular exercise is important." The "research findings." So, this means the "research results," that's all it means. The research results show. So, this "show" connects here. That means from this information we got, this information shows… So, in this case, we're using the plural "findings," so we don't need to change "show" to "shows." "The research findings show that regular exercise is important." Or, "We learn from our research that regular exercise is important." So, this is another way to describe "research outcomes" or "research results." But, we use "finding/findings" to do that.
Okay. I mentioned this expression a little bit earlier. There are two here. "To go to press" or "to go to print." These two expressions mean "to publish something on a recognized media platform." So, "to go to press" or "to go to print." So, these come from kind of traditional media expressions, like physically printing a newspaper or printing a magazine. So, "to go to press," "the press" means the media as well. So, we use these two expressions for like big media platforms. We do not use these expressions for like a blog or for social media. It's usually for a big like article about something that's published in like a major, major news source. So, we don't use this for like small individual projects really. But, again, this has the same meaning of "publish." It means to share something, to make it accessible, for other people to read. So, "to go to print" or "to go to press." For example, "The piece went to print with an error." So, that means "the piece," my story, the thing that I wrote or the thing that someone wrote, "went to print," that means it was shared on a large media platform, "with an error," that means inside the writing, there was a mistake. So, the piece of writing, or the thing that I wrote, the thing a person wrote, was shared to a lot of people on a recognized media platform, but there was a mistake inside the writing. So, that's what this means. This is of course a much shorter way to say that. The piece went to print with an error. We could change this, "The piece went to press with an error," as well. So, this "went" comes from "go." "Go" becomes "went" here.
Alright. Let's talk about these next two. These next two vocabulary words are about people. Roles in journalism, and in article, and in story production. So, the first one is "editor." An "editor" is someone who decides what stories to include in a publication, and therefore what stories not to include in a publication. And, the "editor" decides how to talk about those stories. So, that means that every major publication, like every major magazine, every major newspaper, has an "editor." The "editor" is making decisions about how to share stories. So, this is a key role because it determines the feel and it determines kind of the opinions that are generally presented by that publication. For example, "The editor decided not to include my travel article." So, that means like the head of the publication, the editor, decided "I don't want to include this article this month. Maybe, I'll do it next month." So, the "editor" makes decisions about which stories or which pieces to include or not include.
Then, this word, "copy editor." A "copy editor" is different from an editor. Though, sometimes, depending on the situation, they may share some roles. So, a "copy editor" is someone who checks writing to make sure the information is correct, one. And, they also check grammar, punctuation, spelling, et cetera. So, a "copy editor" is there to check the writer, to make sure the writer is sharing the correct information -- so all the facts are there, and they're there to check grammar, to check the spelling, to check that your ideas are clearly communicated. So, the "copy editor" is like the first person who reads an article. They're checking to see, "Is this clear? Is everything clearly and correctly communicated?" So, a "copy editor" is very important in the process.
Related is something called a "proofreader," too. So, a "proofreader" is like the step before a copy editor. A "proofreader" is someone who generally checks like capitalization -- so large letters or small letters, punctuation, and so on. They're looking for those kinds of things. And then, a "copy editor" is kind of the next level. They're looking for fact checks, or rather they're doing fact checks, or they're looking to see if the writing can be improved somehow, to be more clear, and so on. So, "copy editors" and "editors" are very important to the process.
Okay. In an example, "The copy editor caught lots of mistakes in my story." So, "to catch a mistake" means to find a mistake. So, it sounds like, in this case, the writer is happy because the copy editor found lots of issues, and otherwise, the piece might have gone to print with an error. Okay.
Finally, then, "to commission a piece." So, "to commission" something means to ask someone to do something to create something in exchange for money. So, "to commission a piece" means to ask someone to write about a topic, a specific topic, for money. For example, "I was commissioned to write a piece about the environment." I was commissioned to write a piece about the environment. That means someone asked me to write a story, to write an article, about the environment. And, they promised I would be paid. So, "to commission a piece," in the journalism world, means to receive money in exchange for writing about a topic.
So, these are some good vocabulary words to know as you read the news, as you read newspapers, magazines, and so on. Thanks very much for watching this lesson, and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye.

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