FBLA JOURNALISM COMPREHENSIVE EXAM 2026
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Circulation - ✔✔the number of copies of newspapers distributed on an average day;
one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates; not always the same as copies
sold, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the reader
✔✔Online Journalism - ✔✔contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is
distributed via the Internet as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast
✔✔Beat - ✔✔genre of journalism that can be described as the craft of in-depth reporting
on a particular issue, sector, organization or institution over time
✔✔General Assignment - ✔✔form of reporting that requires the ability to report and
write about a wide range of topics
✔✔Enterprise Reporting - ✔✔a methodology that involves providing substantial
information to the managers in an organization to help them make business decisions
✔✔Pitch - ✔✔a writer's description of a potential story (and why it should matter) to an
editor
✔✔Tipping Point - ✔✔the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and
irreversible development
✔✔Jargon - ✔✔language that pertains to one's business
✔✔Interview - ✔✔takes the form of a conversation between two or more people:
interviewer(s) ask questions to elicit facts or statements from interviewee(s). Interviews
are a standard part of journalism and media reporting
✔✔Primary Source - ✔✔an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a
recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study
✔✔Secondary Source - ✔✔a source that was created later by someone who did not
experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions that are the topic at hand
✔✔On Background - ✔✔means that a reporter can use the information you give them,
but cannot name or quote you directly; different from off-the-record, which means that
information dispensed during an interaction cannot be dispensed in ANY way
✔✔Confidential Source - ✔✔a person who provides information to a law-enforcement
agency or to a journalist on the express or implied guarantee of anonymity
, ✔✔Anecdote - ✔✔a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an
interesting or amusing nature, or an obscure historical or biographical account
✔✔Phoner - ✔✔an interview conducted by telephone (informal)
✔✔Read-Back - ✔✔The repetition of a message one has received, in order to
acknowledge it (ex: The reading aloud by a court reporter or stenographer of testimony
previously taken down in stenographic dictation, usually at the request of the presiding
judge or parties involved in a deposition)
✔✔Central Point - ✔✔What the story is really about, what question or questions the
story will answer to be worthwhile,
why people need or will want to know about it,
if it reflects a larger trend or theme, etc.
✔✔Wire Service - ✔✔a news agency that supplies syndicated news by wire to
newspapers, radio, and television stations
✔✔Linotype - ✔✔a composing machine producing lines of words as single strips of
metal, used chiefly for newspapers; now rarely used
✔✔AP Style - ✔✔Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law - an English
Stylebook (grammar style and usage guide) created by American journalists connected
with the Associated Press in order to achieve a way to standardize mass
communications; published in 1953, updated biennally over the next 20 years; its
simplified rules of grammar (dropping Oxford comma and using figures for all numbers
above 9) have caused corporate marketing and public relations departments to also
adopt it
✔✔Narrative Style - ✔✔used to captivate readers by drawing them into a story with
greater detail than is found in traditional news stories; is a popular format for magazines
such as The New Yorker and can be difficult to define and write
✔✔Hourglass Style - ✔✔a combination of inverted pyramid and narrative structures.
The author begins with key details (who, what, when, where, and why), and adds details
in the inverted pyramid structure; story then abruptly "turns," requiring a clear transition,
to focus on a narrative, such as the story of a specific eyewitness or party, which
addresses finer details and implications, before making its final conclusion
✔✔Focus Style - ✔✔lead (which can run for 3-5 paragraphs), anecdotal soft lead (starts
out with a small story about a person, place, or situation that exemplifies the larger
theme), the nut graf (central point of story - key theme - and how lead illustrates that
point), body (further explains central point), conclusion (wraps up story by linking insight
to focus lead)
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Circulation - ✔✔the number of copies of newspapers distributed on an average day;
one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates; not always the same as copies
sold, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the reader
✔✔Online Journalism - ✔✔contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is
distributed via the Internet as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast
✔✔Beat - ✔✔genre of journalism that can be described as the craft of in-depth reporting
on a particular issue, sector, organization or institution over time
✔✔General Assignment - ✔✔form of reporting that requires the ability to report and
write about a wide range of topics
✔✔Enterprise Reporting - ✔✔a methodology that involves providing substantial
information to the managers in an organization to help them make business decisions
✔✔Pitch - ✔✔a writer's description of a potential story (and why it should matter) to an
editor
✔✔Tipping Point - ✔✔the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and
irreversible development
✔✔Jargon - ✔✔language that pertains to one's business
✔✔Interview - ✔✔takes the form of a conversation between two or more people:
interviewer(s) ask questions to elicit facts or statements from interviewee(s). Interviews
are a standard part of journalism and media reporting
✔✔Primary Source - ✔✔an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a
recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study
✔✔Secondary Source - ✔✔a source that was created later by someone who did not
experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions that are the topic at hand
✔✔On Background - ✔✔means that a reporter can use the information you give them,
but cannot name or quote you directly; different from off-the-record, which means that
information dispensed during an interaction cannot be dispensed in ANY way
✔✔Confidential Source - ✔✔a person who provides information to a law-enforcement
agency or to a journalist on the express or implied guarantee of anonymity
, ✔✔Anecdote - ✔✔a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an
interesting or amusing nature, or an obscure historical or biographical account
✔✔Phoner - ✔✔an interview conducted by telephone (informal)
✔✔Read-Back - ✔✔The repetition of a message one has received, in order to
acknowledge it (ex: The reading aloud by a court reporter or stenographer of testimony
previously taken down in stenographic dictation, usually at the request of the presiding
judge or parties involved in a deposition)
✔✔Central Point - ✔✔What the story is really about, what question or questions the
story will answer to be worthwhile,
why people need or will want to know about it,
if it reflects a larger trend or theme, etc.
✔✔Wire Service - ✔✔a news agency that supplies syndicated news by wire to
newspapers, radio, and television stations
✔✔Linotype - ✔✔a composing machine producing lines of words as single strips of
metal, used chiefly for newspapers; now rarely used
✔✔AP Style - ✔✔Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law - an English
Stylebook (grammar style and usage guide) created by American journalists connected
with the Associated Press in order to achieve a way to standardize mass
communications; published in 1953, updated biennally over the next 20 years; its
simplified rules of grammar (dropping Oxford comma and using figures for all numbers
above 9) have caused corporate marketing and public relations departments to also
adopt it
✔✔Narrative Style - ✔✔used to captivate readers by drawing them into a story with
greater detail than is found in traditional news stories; is a popular format for magazines
such as The New Yorker and can be difficult to define and write
✔✔Hourglass Style - ✔✔a combination of inverted pyramid and narrative structures.
The author begins with key details (who, what, when, where, and why), and adds details
in the inverted pyramid structure; story then abruptly "turns," requiring a clear transition,
to focus on a narrative, such as the story of a specific eyewitness or party, which
addresses finer details and implications, before making its final conclusion
✔✔Focus Style - ✔✔lead (which can run for 3-5 paragraphs), anecdotal soft lead (starts
out with a small story about a person, place, or situation that exemplifies the larger
theme), the nut graf (central point of story - key theme - and how lead illustrates that
point), body (further explains central point), conclusion (wraps up story by linking insight
to focus lead)
