Jargon Busters - Print Media

Newspapers, mags, the Fourth Estate, the rags, the red tops, the printed word…

The first medium I ever learned how to buy advertising within, way back in 1486, so these acronyms are well ingrained in my brain. All definitely worth knowing if you’re new to the delights of print media, and many people are, with digital being the be all and end all for a lot of advertisers.

Thankfully, I believe that newspapers and magazines will always be with us, even in 100 years time, so worth learning the below, in my opinion.

Open the page, and let’s move ahead with the Top 10 terms of jargon in the world of print advertising…

10. FH

Simply – Front Half. This means your advert will appear in the first half of the publication. So if the newspaper is, for example, 56 pages in total, your ad will feature somewhere in the first 28 pages.

9. OSE

Outside Edge – yes, it might be a cricketing term, but here, it means that your ad insertion should appear on the outside of the page, be it left or right hand, and NOT within the centre of the page, against the fold – known as the “gutter”.

That’s another term – the gutter. Not to be confused with the “gutter press”, which is something else entirely.

8. DPS

These three letters stand for Double Page Spread. This is the instance of your ad being made up of both the left and the right hand page. Of course, this term is often used in editorial terms – whereby your PR agency might have got the article “running across a DPS”.

7. FM

Facing Matter – whether your ad is on the left or the right hand page, the page opposite should be editorial (“matter”), and NOT other advertising.

6. UM

While some might instantly think UM stands for the agency Universal McCann (which of course it does), in print media parlance, it is the shorthand for Under Matter.

So, let’s say your ad insertion is a half page horizontal in format, if placed UM, it will appear under editorial, and again, NOT under another ad.

 5. Gtd

Guaranteed – a term used throughout medialand, a sign, in writing, that what you, as the media buyer, have agreed with the media owner, will DEFINITELY happen.

I remember once, in the late 90s, I had in writing a guarantee that my ad would appear on Page 5, OSE, with “no smut” (it was the Daily Star…). So imagine my surprise when my ad appeared on Page 18, on a page with Samantha Fox…less clothed than normal shall we say.

True story that.

I got a free repeat of my client’s ad of course (as I had the Guarantee which had been broken), but only after a bit of a row with the sales guy, who claimed that my ad would have more eyeballs on it in its new position. Who knows?

4. BH

If FH is Front Half, I’ll give you 3 guesses what BH stands for….Yes, well done at the back…it’s Back Half of course. So your ad will feature in the second half of the booked publication. Simple as that. I told you this print media game was easy.

3. LH/RH

Shorthand terms for Left Hand page and Right Hand page. There are some who argue that ones eyes naturally fall on to the right hand leaf when turning any page – so the RH OSE slot is often highly sought after. Personally, I think if the content on the page is of interest, then it shouldn’t really matter. What do you think?

2. Solus

From the Latin, meaning “only, this term means that your ad will be the only ad on that particular location, page, spread…whatever you have agreed (and guaranteed) with the media owner. So no other adverts should appear alongside, or nearby, thus ensuring your message is the only one at that time to resonate.

 Again, another true story…I once booked a Solus ad on the Back Page of a particular newspaper, only to see on the day of publication that my ad was one of two on that page! So cue an irate call from myself to my sales contact, who informed me that in his title, Solus was actually short for “Semi-Solus” (and surely everyone knew that, he said).

I suggested he take up Latin…

And at Number 1 spot this week…

1. SCC

Ah, one of the very first acronyms I ever learnt…the lifeblood of print media….the Single Column Centimetre.

This is where your Maths comes into play (Latin AND Maths in one article, eh?) – say a title gives you the scc of ￡12 for their space. Your ad is a 20 x 2 that you’re trying to buy. That’s 20cm high x 2 columns across (NOT 2 cm across). So in total, your ad takes up 40cm of “space” (20 x 2 = 40). To work out the cost of your ad, you multiply your ad space (40) by the scc (￡12), to make a grand cost of ￡480.

 Master that, and you can do anything in media…

And there we have it, a quick rundown of the key print media acronyms, terms and jargon. And some cute anecdotes thrown in. 

You’re very welcome. Enjoy, cut out, and keep with your other jargon busters!