A
- As-live
- A pre-recorded interview or report made to look and sound as though it is live, usually because it will be broadcast soon afterwards without editing. Treat it as live: there may be no chance to go again.
B
- B-roll
- Supplementary footage cut in over an interview or a reporter’s voice: pictures of a building, a factory floor, people walking. A crew may ask to film some at your premises after the interview.
- Background (on background)
- Information given to a journalist on the understanding that it can be used but not attributed to you by name. Newsrooms define it differently, so agree exactly what it means before you say anything. See: Media interview guide
- Bridging
- Acknowledging and answering a question, then moving to the point you want to make. Done well it is good conversation; done crudely (“what’s really important is…”) audiences notice and trust you less.
C
- Clean feed
- The programme sound sent to a remote contributor with their own voice removed, so they hear the presenter without an echo of themselves. Also called mix-minus.
- Clip
- A short extract of an interview used in a news bulletin or package. Often around ten to fifteen seconds, which is why each answer needs to make sense on its own. See: Soundbite timer
- Contempt of Parliament
- Conduct that obstructs Parliament or its committees. Knowingly misleading a select committee is a contempt, as is refusing without reasonable excuse to answer a question or produce papers a committee has formally required. See: Select committee guide
- Crisis simulation
- A realistic rehearsal of a crisis, with a scenario that develops in real time, simulated media and social media pressure, and decisions to make under time pressure. It shows where a plan works and where it does not. See: Crisis Simulation
D
- Dark site
- A web page or microsite prepared in advance for a crisis and kept unpublished until it is needed, so accurate information can go live quickly.
- Doorstep
- An interview, or attempted interview, without prior warning, often outside someone’s home or office. Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code covers doorstepping under its privacy rules (rule 8.11); vox pops are not doorstepping.
- Down-the-line (DTL)
- An interview where you are in a different place from the interviewer, hearing the questions through an earpiece and usually looking into a camera lens rather than at a person. See: On camera from your desk
E
- Embargo
- A request that journalists do not publish information before a set date and time. In the UK it is a professional convention rather than a legal obligation, and lift times of 00:01 are common. See: Media interview guide
- Evidence session
- A formal meeting at which a select committee questions witnesses in public. Commons sessions usually last up to two hours; Lords sessions generally 40 to 90 minutes. See: Select committee guide
G
- Green room
- The waiting room for guests at a broadcast studio. You may meet other contributors there, including ones who disagree with you. Assume conversations are not private.
- GVs (general views)
- Wide shots of a location used to set the scene, such as the outside of your building. A kind of B-roll.
H
- Holding statement
- A short statement issued early in a crisis that says what is known, what is being done, shows concern for those affected and says when there will be more. Best drafted in advance. See: Crisis first hours
I
- IFB (talkback)
- Interruptible foldback: the earpiece system that lets a director or producer talk to presenters and contributors during a broadcast. Hearing a voice in your ear while you speak is one of the things that most unsettles first-time interviewees. See: Studio training days
- Illusory truth effect
- The finding that a statement heard before feels truer than one heard for the first time, whether or not it is true. The reason not to repeat an allegation in order to deny it. Source: experiencepodco.com
- Informed consent
- In broadcasting, a contributor’s agreement to take part having been told what the programme is about, why they were asked, what kind of contribution is expected and the areas of questioning. Set out in Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code (rule 7.3) and the BBC Editorial Guidelines. See: Media interview guide
- IPSO
- The Independent Press Standards Organisation, which regulates most UK newspapers and magazines under the Editors’ Code of Practice. Clause 1 covers accuracy and the correction of significant inaccuracies. Source: ipso.co.uk
K
- Key messages
- The two or three points you most want an audience to take away, each backed by a proof point. What you return to when an answer needs somewhere to land. See: Interview planner
L
- Lavalier (lav)
- A small microphone clipped to clothing. Once it is on, assume it is live.
- Lines to take
- Agreed wording for answering expected questions on a topic, often with follow-ups marked “if pressed”. Common in government and larger organisations.
- Lobby
- The group of political journalists with special access at Westminster, who receive regular briefings from the Prime Minister’s spokesperson. Lobby briefings have traditionally been largely unattributed.
M
- Mix-minus
- See clean feed. Without it a remote contributor hears their own voice back on a slight delay, which is very disorienting.
N
- Noddies
- Shots of an interviewer nodding or listening, usually filmed after the interview, used to cover edits between answers.
O
- Ofcom Broadcasting Code
- The rules UK broadcasters must follow, including fairness to contributors (Section Seven) and privacy (Section Eight). Source: ofcom.org.uk
- Off the record
- Dictionaries define it as something not to be reported; many journalists treat it as usable without attribution. Because the meaning varies, agree terms first or assume you are on the record. See: Media interview guide
- On the record
- Everything you say can be reported and attributed to you by name. The default in any conversation with a journalist.
- Oral evidence
- Evidence given in person, or by video link, to a select committee, in answer to members’ questions. Usually public, broadcast and archived online.
- Osmotherly Rules
- Cabinet Office guidance for civil servants giving evidence to select committees, last updated October 2014. Officials speak on behalf of their minister and confine themselves to fact and explanation. See: Select committee guide
P
- Package
- A recorded news report built from a reporter’s script, pictures and interview clips. Your contribution may be one or two short clips among several voices.
- Parliamentary privilege
- The legal protection that means formal evidence to a committee cannot be the basis of civil or criminal proceedings against the witness. It does not make evidence confidential.
- Pool
- An arrangement where one crew or reporter covers an event and shares the footage or notes with other news organisations, usually where space or access is limited.
- Pre-appointment hearing
- A public select committee hearing with the government’s preferred candidate for certain senior public appointments. The committee’s view is not binding. See: Select committee guide
- Pre-record
- An interview recorded for broadcast later, usually edited. Only a short clip may be used.
- Producer
- The person who books guests, researches the item and often briefs you before an interview. Usually the best person to ask what the interview will cover.
R
- Right of reply
- The opportunity for people facing allegations to respond before broadcast or publication. Set out in Ofcom’s code (rule 7.11), the BBC Editorial Guidelines and, for the press, the IPSO Editors’ Code.
S
- Select committee
- A committee of MPs or peers that scrutinises a government department or a policy area, takes written and oral evidence, and publishes reports. See: Select committee guide
- Soundbite
- A short, memorable phrase or sentence that works on its own when quoted or clipped. Research on news coverage has found average broadcast soundbites of around nine to thirteen seconds. See: Soundbite timer
- Spokesperson
- The person who speaks for an organisation in public. In a serious incident, audiences expect the voice to be senior.
- Stealing thunder
- Disclosing bad news about your own organisation before someone else does. Research has found it tends to make an organisation look more credible than being found out. See: Crisis first hours
- Sting
- A short burst of music or sound used to mark the start or end of an item on radio or television.
- Sub judice
- Literally “under judgment”: a matter before the courts. Parliament and the media are careful about discussing active cases, and select committees ask witnesses to flag them.
T
- Tabletop exercise
- A discussion-based crisis rehearsal where a team talks through how it would respond to a scenario, without the real-time pressure of a full simulation.
- Two-way
- A live conversation between a presenter in the studio and someone outside it, often a reporter at the scene.
U
- Uncorrected transcript
- The first published transcript of a House of Lords committee session. Witnesses can make minor corrections, not substantive changes. In the Commons, corrections go in a separate note.
V
- Vox pop
- Short comments from members of the public, usually gathered in the street. From the Latin vox populi, the voice of the people.
W
- Written evidence
- A submission to a select committee inquiry, sent through the committee’s online portal. Usually no more than 3,000 words, with numbered paragraphs, and not to be published by you until the committee says so. See: Select committee guide