Glossary¶

This is the ticket for adding definitions: https://dev.guardianproject.info/issues/498

5 W's + H - These questions need to be answered in every news article:
Who (is it about)?
What (happened)?
Where (did it take place)?
When (did it take place)?
Why (did it happen)?
How (did it happen)?

One can also add: What does it mean?

abbreviation- An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase. For example, the word abbreviation can itself be represented by the abbreviation abbr., abbrv. or abbrev. Other examples of abbreviations as NGO, UN, HRD, etc. (partly adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbreviation)

accuracy - A journalists first obligation is to the truth, and this can only be done if stories are reported accurate. This means that reporters are expected to be as accurate as possible given the time allotted to story preparation and the space available, and to seek reliable sources.

advocacy - Advocacy is a political process by an individual or group which aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Advocacy may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply a desire to protect an asset of interest. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy)

ambient sound - The sounds of a specific room, environment, or other space. Ambient sound is used in audio programming to create depth and bring the audience into the story. It may be added to video or photo essay stories as well, to add additional detail and substance to the visual imagery.

Android - Android is a Linux-based open source operating system designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system))

angle - An angle is really the main objective of the article. You might have chosen a topic for your story, but you also need to have an angle to make it attractive. The topic for a story might be 'Street violence', but then you still need an angle that is interesting for people, such as: 'How is street violence affecting business in district A' or: 'How did city C get rid of street violence?' or: 'How to protect yourself from street violence'.

anonymity - Anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown. There are various situations in which a person might choose to withhold their identity. Acts of charity have been performed anonymously when benefactors do not wish to be acknowledged. A person who feels threatened might attempt to mitigate that threat through anonymity. A witness to a crime might seek to avoid retribution, for example, by anonymously calling a crime tipline. Criminals might proceed anonymously to conceal their participation in a crime. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymity)

anonymity (online) - Online anonymity is often confused with Pseudonymity. On the internet much content is effectively anonymous to the majority of the public, as it is published by individuals using pseudonymous or choosing to be "anonymous." Full anonymity on the Internet, however, is not guaranteed since IP addresses and MAC addresses, in principle, can be tracked, allowing to identify the computer from which a certain post was made, albeit not the actual user. Anonymizing services such as I2P - The Anonymous Network or Tor address the issue of IP tracking. (partly adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_anonymity#Anonymity_on_the_Internet)

aperture - In photography, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.

app - A mobile application (or mobile app, or app) is a software application designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_app)

attribution - Journalistic practice of attributing information to its source. Where possible a journalists should make the source if the information known.

audio - The aperture is a small iris in the lens of a camera. The larger the valve opening, the more light that will strike the sensor. The smaller the iris valve, the less light striking the sensor. The aperture also controls depth-of-field – the area in front of and behind the subject that is in focus. The larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field. In some lenses and cameras the range of aperture size available will change depending on how much you zoom in or out.

bias - Anything biased generally is one-sided and therefore lacks a neutral point of view. Bias can come in many forms and is often considered to be synonymous with prejudice. Bias does not mean reporting facts without providing unfounded contradictory information, purely for the impression of objectivity. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias)

blog - blog (short for weblog) is a website that is made up of posts. Until 2009 blogs were usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject. More recently "multi-author blogs" (MABs) have developed, with posts written by large numbers of authors and professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, interest groups and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into societal newstreams. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. (partly adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog)

breaking news - Breaking news is a news event that is of the highest priority. It is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Its use is often loosely assigned to the most significant story of the moment or a story that is being covered live. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_news)

caption - Explanatory text about specific published photos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caption)

citizen journalism - Independent reporting, often by amateurs on the scene of an event, and disseminated via new media. (adapted partly from: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/citizen_journalism)

close-up - In filmmaking, television production and still photography a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots (cinematic techniques). Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene. Moving in to a close-up or away from a close-up is a common type of zooming. (partly adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_up)

closed question - A question that can be answered with 'Yes' or 'No'. Mostly it is a better journalistic practice to ask open questions, the mostly begin with who, what, where, why, when or how.

compelling - interesting, exciting, persuasive.

composition - The foundation of good composition is the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds breaks down the frame into nine equal rectangles. Many smartphones will allow you to display the rule of thirds grid over the camera display. Please check the photography lesson for more information.

contrast - Contrast in the imaging is the difference between the lights and the darks. If you have a picture that has little contrast, its usually very subdued. If you take an picture and turn down the contrast, the light parts of the pic become darker, and the dark parts become lighter. If you turn it up, the opposite happens. If you really turn it up a lot, you end up with only white and black, which works for some photos, but a very small percentage. Generally speaking, turning up the contrast makes the subject stand out a bit from the background.

cookie - A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie, is usually a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a user's web browser while a user is browsing a website. When the user browses the same website in the future, the data stored in the cookie can be retrieved by the website to notify the website of the user's previous activity.
Although cookies cannot carry viruses, and cannot install malware on the host computer, tracking cookies and especially third-party tracking cookies are commonly used as ways to compile long-term records of individuals' browsing histories. (partly adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie_(internet))

cropping - In the printing, graphic design and photography industries, cropping¹ refers to removing unwanted areas from a photographic or illustrated image. One of the most basic photo manipulation processes, it is performed in order to remove an unwanted subject or irrelevant detail from a photo, change its aspect ratio, or to improve the overall composition (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cropping)

documentary - Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary)

e-mail - Electronic mail, most commonly referred to as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail)

editing - Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete work. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editing)

encryption - Encryption is the process of encoding messages (or information) in such a way that eavesdroppers or hackers cannot read it, but that authorized parties can. In an encryption scheme, the message or information (referred to as plaintext) is encrypted using an encryption algorithm, turning it into an unreadable ciphertext. This is usually done with the use of an encryption key, which specifies how the message is to be encoded. Any adversary that can see the ciphertext should not be able to determine anything about the original message. An authorized party, however, is able to decode the ciphertext using a decryption algorithm, that usually requires a secret decryption key, that adversaries do not have access to. For technical reasons, an encryption scheme usually needs a key-generation algorithm to randomly produce keys. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encryption)

expert - An expert, more generally, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular area of study (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert)

exposure - Exposure is the amount of light allowed to fall on each area unit of a photographic medium (photographic film or image sensor) during the process of taking a photograph (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(photography))

facebook - Facebook is a social networking service launched in February 2004, owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. As of September 2012, Facebook has over one billion active users, more than half of whom use Facebook on a mobile device. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Facebook has been critized for being a privacy risk for its users. (partly adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook)

factoid - A brief fact, sometimes trivial, but which provides a measurable detail by which to better understand an element of a news story.

fact - A truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fact)

fairness - Journalists must always be fair and honest with all they come in contact with. This involves both contributors and the audience. Fairness means exploring and putting all sides of a story as accurately as possible. Members of the public should never be used to exaggerate the importance of a story. (http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/training-resources/editorial-ethics/239-fairness-in-journalism)

feature - A feature story is a special human interest story or article that is not closely tied to a recent news event. It goes into great detail regarding concepts and ideas of specific market interest. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_story)

field of view - The field of view is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_view)

file - A collection of related data or program records stored as a unit with a single name. This can be a video, a piece of audio or a document (partially adapted from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/file)

flash memory - Flash memory is an electronic (i.e. no moving parts) non-volatile computer storage device that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. This can be a USB thumdrive or the memory in your smartphone. (partly adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory)

focus - A focus point, also called an image point, is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge. This means that this is where the image is sharp (not blurred) (partially adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_(optics))

HD video - High-definition video is video of higher resolution than is standard. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_video)

hearsay - Hearsay is information gathered by one person from another person concerning some event, condition, or thing of which the first person had no direct experience (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearsay)

hiss (hissing sound) - A sharp sibilant sound similar to a sustained s. Often heard when a microphone/recorder is held to close to the mouth of a interviewee causing all S's to sound sharper.

https - Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a widely used communications protocol for secure communication over a computer network, with especially wide deployment on the Internet. Technically, it is not a protocol in itself; rather, it is the result of simply layering the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) on top of the SSL/TLS protocol, thus adding the security capabilities of SSL/TLS to standard HTTP communications. In other words, a more secure version of http. (partially adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Https)

hyperlink - A hyperlink (or link) is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow through clicking on it, or that is followed automatically (partially adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink)

IMEI - The International Mobile Station Equipment Identity or IMEI is a number to identify mobile phones, as well as some satellite phones. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone. It can also be displayed on the screen of the phone by entering *#06# into the keypad on most phones. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMEI)

incognito - having one's identity concealed (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/incognito?s=t)

independent - not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, authority or jurisdiction. (partially adapted from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/independent?s=t)

influence - A power affecting a person, thing, or course of events, especially one that operates without any direct or apparent effort. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/influence)

interactive element - element on a website that a user can interact with such a JavaScript

internet - The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet)

interview - An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to elicit facts or statements from the interviewee. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interview)

ISO - ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) – however the cost is noisier shots. (adapted from: http://digital-photography-school.com/iso-settings)

ISP - An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect clients to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISP)

iTunes - iTunes is a media player and media library application developed by Apple Inc. It is used to play, download, and organize digital audio and video on personal computers running the OS X operating system and the iOS-based iPod, iPhone, and iPad devices, with editions also released for Microsoft Windows.
Through the iTunes Store, users can purchase and download music, music videos, television shows, iPod games, audiobooks, podcasts, movies and movie rentals in some countries, and ringtones, available on the iPhone and iPod Touch (fourth generation onward). Application software for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch can be downloaded from the App Store. iTunes has been criticized for not being able to transfer music from one portable device to another. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itunes)

legacy media - The Old Media or Legacy Media are traditional means of communication and expression that have existed since before the advent of the new medium of the Internet. Industries that are generally considered part of the old media are broadcast and cable television, radio, movie and music studios, newspapers, magazines, books and most print publications. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_media)

levels - Audio levels are the representation of the volume of the audio. With too low levels people cannot hear the audio, with too high levels the audio gets distorted.

mp3 - MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented encoding format for digital audio which uses a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on most digital audio players. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3)

noise - In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise)

open question - An open question is a questions that cannot be answered with 'Yes' or 'No'. An open question often starts with Who, What, Where, When or Why.

Orbot - Orbot is the official port of Tor to Android. Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the internet. (pasted from the description of the Orbot app, in the Google Playstore)

Orweb - Orweb works hand in hand with Orbot to provide web access that is able to circumvent web filters and firewalls, while also improving a users ability to remain anonymous online. Orweb also enables whitelist control of cookies, keeps no local history, disables Flash, and requires only Internet permissions, keeping you safe from malicious content. Beyond Tor, Orweb also supports any HTTP proxy server. (https://guardianproject.info/apps/orweb/)

passphrase - A passphrase is a sequence of words or other text used to control access to a computer system, program or data. A passphrase is similar to a password in usage, but is generally longer for added security. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passphrase)

photo - Registration of a moment on light-senstive material or digital sensor

photo essay - Registration of a series of moments on light-senstive material or digital sensor to tell as story

podcast - A podcast is a radio program/audio file that can regularly (automatically) being download from the internet

pop (popping sound) - A sound that might occur when the microphone or recorder is held too close to the mouth of the interviewee

portrait - Page orientation is the way in which a rectangular page is oriented for normal viewing. The two most common types of orientation are portrait and landscape. The specific word definition comes from the fact that a close-up portrait of a person's face and upper body is more fitting for a canvas or photo where the height of the display area is greater than the width, and is more common for the pages of books. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_mode)

post-production - Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art. It is a term for all stages of production occurring after the actual end of shooting and/or recording the completed work. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_production)

post-roll - A period of time during which a video or audio recorder continues recording, but after the intended subject of recording is completed. Usually five to ten seconds. (partly adapted from http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/preroll#English)

pre-roll - A period of time during which a video or audio recorder begins recording, but before the intended subject of recording begins. Usually five to ten seconds. (partly adapted from http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/preroll#English)

privacy - Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy)

pseudonym - A fictitious name, used by individuals who wish to work or publish anonymously, such as writers, bloggers, activists, and movie stars. Pseudonyms do not provide technical anonymity online, due to potential tracking of IP addresses, cookies, and other identifying information when publishing content online. (adapted partly from: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pseudonym)

resolution - A measure of digital audio or video quality.

rule of thirds - A normative rule that an image should be mentally or representationally divided in three horizontally and diagonally, and that the focus of the image should not be in the center of the resulting shape. (adapted from http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rule_of_thirds)

safety - Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be considered non-desirable. Safety can also be defined to be the control of recognized hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety)

search engine - A web search engine is software code that is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. www.google.com is currently the worlds biggest search engine, https://duckduckgo.com/ is a search engine designed to resprect your privacy. (partially adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine)

security - Security as a condition is the degree of resistance to, or protection from, harm. It applies to any vulnerable and valuable asset, such as a person, dwelling, community, nation, or organization. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security)

sensor - An image sensor is a device that converts an optical image into an electronic signal. It is used mostly in digital cameras, camera modules and other imaging devices. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor)

shutter - In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period of time, for the purpose of exposing photographic film or a light-sensitive electronic sensor to light to capture a permanent image of a scene. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_(photography))

SIM - A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module (SIM) is an integrated circuit that securely stores the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) and the related key used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscriber_identity_module)

slideshow - A slideshow is a story presented through a series of individual slides.

smartphone - A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing capability connectivity than a feature phone. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone)

SMS - Short Message Service (SMS) is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS)

social media - Social media refer to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Examples are networks like Facebook, Twitter and Diaspora (adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media)

soundcloud - Soundcloud had the intention of allowing musicians to share recordings with each other, but later transformed into a full publishing tool which also allowed musicians to distribute their music tracks. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundcloud)

Sources - A person, publication or other record or document that gives information. Should be mentioned in a story unless it's directly endagering the source.

SSL - Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol for encrypting information over the Internet.

storyboard - Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboard)

surveillance - Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people for the purpose of influencing, managing, directing, or protecting. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance)

tag - An index term assigned to a piece of information. This helps others to find the information you are providing.

timely - Journalism is, by definition, timely. The best way to be timely is to be first. What’s the point of telling people things they already know? You are there to tell them things they don’t know. So chase that news and get it first. (http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/index.php/training-resources/journalism-basics/509-10-tips-for-journalistic-success)

timestamp - A timestamp is a sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, usually giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a small fraction of a second. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timestamp)

Tor - Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the internet. (from Tor Project)

transparent - Open, public; having the property that theories and practices are publicly visible, thereby reducing the chance of corruption. In journalism, it is particularly important to be transparent about conflicts of interest, potential bias, or limitations to available facts regarding a story. (adapted partly from: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transparent)

twitter - Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter)

verifiable - Able to be verified or confirmed. In journalism this often means the specific detail to be verified or confirmed has been checked with at least three sources. This is not always possible, but details and facts are generally considered verifiable, if they are confirmed by three independent sources. (partly adapted from: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/verifiable)

video - Moving images that tell a story.

VoIP - Voice over IP (VoIP, abbreviation of voice over Internet Protocol) commonly refers to the communication protocols, technologies, methodologies, and transmission techniques involved in the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over the Internet. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VOIP)

web crawler - A Web crawler is an Internet bot that systematically browses the World Wide Web, typically for the purpose of Web indexing. Web search engines and some other sites use Web crawling or spidering software to update their web content or indexes of others sites' web content. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler)

white balance - White balance is an option to get the colors in your images as accurate as possible by ensuring that something that is white is also recorded as white.

youtube - YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos Youtube.com. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube)