d over, it is said to be
_released_ on the day on which it may be printed. The first paragraph of
any story is called the _lead_ (pronounced "leed"); the word _lead_ is
also used to designate several introductory paragraphs that are tacked
on at the beginning of a long story, which may be of the nature of a
_running story_ (as the running story of a football game), or may be
made up of several parts, written by one or more reporters. In general,
that part of a story which presents the gist or summary of the entire
story at the beginning is called the _lead_. The most interesting thing
in the story, the part that gives it news value, is called the
_feature_, and _playing up the feature_ consists in telling the most
interesting thing in the first line of the lead or in the headline. An
entire story is said to be _played up_ if it is given a prominent place
in the paper. A _feature story_ is either a story that is thus played
up or a story that is written for some other reason than news value,
such as human interest. When a story is rewritten to give a new interest
to old facts it is called a _rewrite story_; when it is rewritten to
include new facts or developments, it is called a _follow-up_,
_second-day_, or _follow story_.

Because of the close relation between the editorial room and the
printing office many printing terms are commonly heard about the
editorial room. All copy is measured by the _column_ and by the
_stickful_. A column is usually a little less than 1,500 words and a
stickful is the amount of type that can be set in a compositor's
_stick_, the metal frame used in setting type by hand--about two inches
or 100 words. A bit of copy that is set up with a border or a row of
stars about it is said to be _boxed_. Whenever copy is set with extra
space between the lines it is said to be _leaded_ (pronounced
"leded")--the name is taken from the piece of lead that is placed
between the lines of type. The reporter must gradually learn the names
of the various kinds of type and the various proofreader's signs that
are used to indicate the way in which the type is to be set, for the
whole work of writing the news is governed and limited by the mechanical
possibilities of the printing office. The commonest signs used by the
proofreader or the copyreader, together with instructions for preparing
copy, are given in the Style Book at the end of this volume. (A complete
list of proofreader's signs can be found in the back