Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages.   In this podcast we are going to explore journalistic language in English, or journalese as it’s also known. When we say journalistic language, we are referring to the type of language used to compile and edit news, facts or opinions, presented to its target audience through the media. We’ll also learn some of its specific terminology. Like any other type of communication, journalistic language has its own codes, and the language is direct and formal. As this topic is so vast, we are going to focus on learning some essential terms for journalists, in both written and audiovisual forms. Before that though, let’s understand where the word journalese comes from. The term “journalese” (jerga periodística) belongs to the same family of words as “journalist” (periodista), journalism (periodismo) or “journey” (viaje, o camino en un día de viaje); as in the Spanish “jornada” (a day's journey or trip or working day) or “jornal” (a day's wage); and as the French “journal” ( newspaper or diary), which originates from the Latin term “diurnal”. The Acta Diurna was a kind of newsreel in ancient Rome, where information about social, political or economic events (las “noticias del día”) was published for the public to see. Interesting, isn’t it? Now, let’s begin learning some common, and sometimes confusing terms, used in the profession that every journalist (or English learner) should know. Starting with the essential one, news. News is an uncountable noun in English that structurally behaves as a singular noun: You’ve probably heard the expression; no news is good news. It’s a good example of how it is used in the singular form. In order to make it a countable noun, we need another word, for example: a piece of news or newspiece. Breaking news means noticia de última hora, and a newspaper, in its written printed or digital form, is  periódico, sometimes shortened to ‘the paper’. Let's continue with some possibly confusing terms, such as “editor”: A newspaper editor is el director de un periódico, to whom letters to the editor are addressed. Also, the editor in chief or chief editor is el redactor jefe of the corresponding section of the publication, and an editor is un redactor. It can also refer to el corrector or revisor (in the Spanish sense of editar un texto), although in English there is a more specific term for this profession which is a proofreader.  On the other hand, the Spanish “editorial”, means the same in English, editorial, as in the article published without a signature which represents the newspaper’s viewpoint. For the Spanish term “periodista” we find both the word journalist (the term in its broadest sense) and reporter (which is used more specifically for the person that seeks and collects information on the scene of the crime or incident). And to practise good journalism, it is essential to carry out fact-checking, (comprobación de hechos y datos), so as not to spread fake news (noticias falsas), and to present your work by the deadline (dentro de plazo). Let’s now understand some terms used and the structure of a newspaper article by referring to an article from The Guardian, on Wednesday, May 29, 2024: First of all, we find the headline, el titular, which informs us about the subject matter and aims to attract our attention so that we continue reading: “Fresh volcanic eruption triggers evacuation in south-west Iceland”, is our headline. Following that, we find the subtitle: “Plumes of lava reach 50 meters into air as people are moved away from Grindavík near Blue Lagoon spa.” You’ll see that headlines are often difficult to understand, as short words, which are not so commonly used in everyday language, are used to save space. Some examples of these are: back (meaning support) in the headline ‘Government backs the president’; clash (for violent disagreement) in the headline ‘400 demonstrators clash with police’; blast (meaning violent detonation or explosion) in the headline ‘blast kills 8 people’ and finally curb (for restriction) in the headline example: ‘Legislation curbs price and wage increases’.   Continuing with the structure of a newspaper article, after the headline and subtitle, the news item follows on with the lead, entradilla, which contains the most important data, these being the answers to the “what, where and who questions”. Listen to the lead, la entradilla, of the volcanic eruption article that we’re focusing on:   “A volcanic eruption [this is the what] has begun on the Reykjanes /’reikjanes/ peninsula in south-western Iceland [this is the where], according to the country's meteorological office, shortly after authorities [this is the who] evacuated the nearby town of Grindavík” /ˈkrɪntaˌviːk/. Following the lead, we find the body of the news, el cuerpo de la noticia, where the information is developed, and concludes with the ending or párrafo de cierre. In a newspaper article you might see specific quotes in quotation marks from the sources or fuentes of the news, that can speak on- or off-the record, oficialmente o extraoficialmente stating whether they wish to be quoted or not. Likewise, the news must include information about the author or authors and the byline, this is who is responsible for the information. In the case of our Guardian article, the newspaper includes information from the France-Presse agency in Reykjavik. It also includes an image and a caption (pie de foto). Of course, the journalistic text can include other elements, such as a subhead (in Spanish this is (ladillo o intertítulo) and is included between the body paragraphs, or it can include columns. And, obviously, the texts will be different, depending on the objective and section they occupy, whether it is a newspiece, an opinion piece, a feature (un artículo en profundidad) or an interview (una entrevista).   Moving on to audiovisual media, this also has its own terms. In radio, television or podcasts we find many terms composed with cast (which among its many meanings includes transmitting images and/or sound): broadcast (emitir, difundir), and so newscast would be the programa de noticias and the newscaster is the locutor o presentador who addresses the audience, and who may be accompanied by a commentator (comentarista).   So, now that you’ve learnt some journalese, you may wish to reinforce your learning on this topic. We recommend that you do this by looking for media that best suit your taste, and topics that you are interested in, because on the internet you‘ll find a huge range of newspapers, magazines, radio or television programs, on a wide variety of subjects (news, sports, culture, lifestyle, etc). By reading and listening you will expand your journalistic vocabulary and improve your level of comprehension. The offer is vast, so we have pulled together a few suggestions: The New York Times is an American newspaper that enjoys international prestige as a reference. Look for the section that most appeals to you. The Guardian is perhaps considered the British counterpart of the New York Times. You can compare how each of them deal with the news. Can you find any differences between American and British English? Why not take a look? And, of course, we recommend the website of the British Broadcasting Corporation (bbc.com) where you will find plenty of resources for reading, listening and viewing. Happy news reading! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media.  We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!