Journalism Word Search

A journalism puzzle with its answer key, from Headline, Byline and Lead to Nut graph and the five Ws.

Name Date

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

GCENRHVBORNYRAA

EABTEEEBRZCUIGE

HPYCSARSDLMXIUM

LTLOHDILEADDUIW

FIILULFEATUREDD

DONUIIYDDEPBPFR

ANEMSNASLFMOTBF

TBINTERVIEWKGMY

EFDYEOPINIONSTE

LDREPORTERGSHRG

ISNEDLIMFLHOEEN

NDSCOOPHBTIUDZH

EDITORARGIORDSO

IIRTJSDPPHRCEIH

MULINYDQUOTEOOU

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

HeadlineHEADLINE
BylineBYLINE
LeadLEAD
SourceSOURCE
EditorEDITOR
DeadlineDEADLINE
ColumnCOLUMN
CaptionCAPTION
ReporterREPORTER
QuoteQUOTE
InterviewINTERVIEW
ScoopSCOOP
FeatureFEATURE
OpinionOPINION
DatelineDATELINE
VerifyVERIFY

16 of 22 words from the Journalism Key Terms list.

Write a lead for a school news story. Answer who, what, when and where.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

More options

Show clues, not words

Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Journalism Word Search

GCENRHVBORNYRAA

EABTEEEBRZCUIGE

HPYCSARSDLMXIUM

LTLOHDILEADDUIW

FIILULFEATUREDD

DONUIIYDDEPBPFR

ANEMSNASLFMOTBF

TBINTERVIEWKGMY

EFDYEOPINIONSTE

LDREPORTERGSHRG

ISNEDLIMFLHOEEN

NDSCOOPHBTIUDZH

EDITORARGIORDSO

IIRTJSDPPHRCEIH

MULINYDQUOTEOOU

HEADLINE, BYLINE, LEAD, SOURCE, EDITOR, DEADLINE, COLUMN, CAPTION, REPORTER, QUOTE, INTERVIEW, SCOOP, FEATURE, OPINION, DATELINE, VERIFY

Next step Print the media word search Make a word search from your own newsroom terms

All 129 words

Parts of a News Story 18

Attribution Words that tell who said a thing or where a fact came from.
Byline The line at the head of a story that names its writer.
Caption The short explanation printed with a photograph.
Copy Written material that is meant to be published.
Dateline The line at the start of a story that gives its place and date.
Deck A smaller headline set under the main one.
Graf A newsroom short form of the word paragraph.
Headline The title printed in large type over a news story.
Insert Extra text added to a story after it has been written.
Jump line The line that tells a reader which page a story continues on.
Lead The opening part of a news story, above all its first sentence.
Lede The opening of a news story, in a spelling that newsrooms use.
Nut graph The paragraph in a feature story that sums up its most important facts.
Paragraph A block of one or more sentences that begins on a new line.
Quote A person's exact words, repeated in a story.
Sidebar A short boxed piece printed beside a longer article.
Slug A working title given to a story while it is being made ready.
Subhead A smaller heading under the main one.

Show all 129 words (111 more)

Newsroom Jobs 17

Adviser A person who offers guidance, as a teacher does for a school paper.
Announcer A person who introduces programs on radio or television.
Blogger A person who writes posts for a website of dated entries.
Broadcaster A person or company that sends out programs by radio or television.
Cartoonist An artist who draws cartoons.
Columnist A writer whose opinion piece runs regularly.
Commentator A person who gives opinions on the news on the air.
Correspondent A reporter who sends in news from a distant place.
Editor A person who prepares writing for publication.
Journalist A person whose job is gathering and presenting the news.
Newscaster A person who presents the news on radio or television.
Ombudsman A person who looks into complaints from the public.
Photographer A person who takes pictures with a camera.
Proofreader A person who reads a text to find and mark mistakes.
Publisher A person or company that issues a newspaper or a book.
Reporter A person who gathers news and writes or tells it.
Videographer A person who records events with a video camera.

Kinds of Stories 17

Announcement A public notice of an event.
Bulletin A brief report of the latest news.
Classifieds Small paid notices grouped by subject, such as jobs or items for sale.
Commentary A piece that explains an event or gives views on it.
Dispatch A news item sent in by a correspondent.
Editorial An article that gives the opinion of the editors.
Exclusive A story that only one paper or station has.
Feature A long, prominent article on a subject of special interest.
News Reports of events that have just happened.
Obituary A printed notice of a death, often with a short life story.
Op-ed A page of signed opinion pieces, set across from the editorials.
Opinion What a person thinks or believes about a matter.
Profile A short account of one person's life and character.
Report A spoken or written account of an event.
Review An article that judges a book, a film or a play.
Scoop A news story that one paper gets before its rivals.
Update The latest information on a story.

Reporting a Story 23

Angle The point of view from which a story is told.
Assignment An instruction to a reporter to cover an event.
Background The facts and events that lead up to a story.
Beat The subject or place a reporter covers regularly.
Deadline The time by which a story must be finished.
Document A written or printed paper that gives proof or information.
Eyewitness A person who saw an event happen.
Inquiry A close study of a matter in search of facts.
Interview A talk in which a reporter asks a person questions.
Investigate To look into a matter closely to learn the facts.
Leak The release of secret information to the press.
Notes Brief written records made to help the memory.
Observe To watch with care.
Poll A count of people's opinions on a question.
Press pass A card that shows its bearer is a working journalist.
Press release An announcement sent out to news outlets.
Source A person or record that supplies information.
Spokesperson A person who speaks for a group.
Statement A formal account given to the public.
Survey A set of questions put to many people to gather their views.
Tip A piece of inside information handed to a reporter.
Transcript A written record of what was said.
Verify To show that a thing is true or accurate.

Fair and Accurate Reporting 19

Accuracy Freedom from mistakes.
Anonymous Having a name that is not known or not given.
Balance Fair weight given to each side of a question.
Bias A leaning toward one side that gets in the way of fair judgment.
Brevity The use of few words.
Clarity The quality of being clear and easy to understand.
Correction A notice that sets right a mistake in an earlier story.
Credibility The quality of being believable.
Ethics The rules of right conduct for a job.
Fairness The quality of treating every side justly.
Independence Freedom from the control of others.
Integrity Steady keeping to a strict moral code.
Libel The publishing of words or pictures that wrongly harm a person's good name.
Objectivity Sticking to facts and keeping feelings out.
Plagiarism Passing off another writer's words as one's own.
Privacy The state of being free from public attention.
Retraction A published notice that takes back a false story.
Slander False spoken statements that harm a person's good name.
Truth What is real and in line with the facts.

The Printed Paper 18

Banner A headline that runs the full width of the page.
Broadsheet The largest newspaper format, with long, tall pages.
Column One of the side-by-side blocks of type on a page, or a regular feature by one writer.
Edition All the copies of a paper printed at one time.
Gutter The white space where two pages meet.
Journal A newspaper or magazine that comes out on a regular schedule.
Layout The plan of how text and pictures are arranged on a page.
Masthead The listing in a paper of its staff and owners.
Newsletter A printed report of news for the members of a group.
Newsroom The room where news stories are written and edited.
Periodical A publication that comes out at regular times.
Press A machine that prints, or the news business as a whole.
Publish To prepare and issue printed material for the public.
Pull quote A quoted line from a story, set apart in a box to catch the eye.
Subscription An order to receive a paper for a set length of time.
Supplement A separate section added to a newspaper.
Syndicate An agency that sells articles to many papers at once.
Tabloid A newspaper of small format, often with many pictures.

The Five Ws and News Values 17

Audience The readers, viewers or listeners a story reaches.
Consequence A news value: the story has results that matter.
How The question often added to the five Ws: the way it happened.
Human interest A news value: the story is about people's lives and feelings.
Journalism The work of gathering, writing and presenting the news.
Media The means of mass communication, such as papers, radio and websites.
Newsworthy Interesting or important enough to report.
Oddity A news value: the event is strange or out of the ordinary.
Prominence A news value: the people in the story are widely known.
Proximity A news value: the event is close to the audience.
Readership The readers of a publication, taken as a group.
Timeliness A news value: the event has only just happened.
What One of the five Ws: the thing that happened.
When One of the five Ws: the day and time of the event.
Where One of the five Ws: the place of the event.
Who First of the five Ws: the people in the story.
Why One of the five Ws: the reason for the event.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Spellings and meanings were checked on 2026-10-16 against The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, https://www.ahdictionary.com/. Newsroom terms, the five Ws and the news values were also checked on 2026-10-16 against English Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/, in the articles Glossary of journalism, News style, Five Ws, News values, Broadsheet and Press pass. Licence: own work

How it works

This journalism word search opens on 16 key terms, such as Source, Editor, Deadline, Scoop, Dateline and Verify. Every word has a one-line meaning. Seven more lists hold all 129 words.

Read the full guide

Lists for a journalism class

Under Start from a list, Parts of a News Story has Lede, Deck, Nut graph and Jump line. Newsroom Jobs has Columnist, Correspondent and Proofreader. Kinds of Stories has Editorial, Op-ed and Obituary. Reporting a Story has Beat, Tip, Eyewitness and Press release.

Ethics, print and news values

Fair and Accurate Reporting has Libel, Slander, Plagiarism and Retraction. The Printed Paper has Banner, Gutter and Broadsheet. The Five Ws and News Values has Who, What, When, Where and Why, then Timeliness, Proximity and Oddity.

Under More options, tick Show clues, not words. Pupils read "The line at the head of a story that names its writer" and find Byline.
Nut graph, Jump line, Op-ed and four more two-part terms are hidden with no gap: NUTGRAPH.
Short Journalism Words, with Lead, Lede, Scoop, Quote and Beat, suits a first lesson. Long Journalism Words has 49 words of 9 letters or more.

Questions and answers

What are the five Ws of journalism?

Who, what, when, where and why: the questions the lead of a news story should answer. How is often added as a sixth.

What is the difference between a lead and a lede?

They are the same thing: the opening of a news story, above all its first sentence. Lede is an old spelling that newsrooms revived to keep the word apart from lead, the strip of metal once set between lines of type.

What is the difference between a byline and a dateline?

A byline is the line at the head of an article that carries the writer's name. A dateline is the phrase at the start of the article that gives the date and place it comes from.

What is a nut graph?

A paragraph in a feature story that sums up its most important facts. The name is short for nutshell paragraph.

All 129 words

Parts of a News Story 18

Newsroom Jobs 17

Kinds of Stories 17

Reporting a Story 23

Fair and Accurate Reporting 19

The Printed Paper 18

The Five Ws and News Values 17

How it works

Lists for a journalism class

Ethics, print and news values

Questions and answers

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