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Journalism & Media vocabulary · Reporting and News Writing

Kicker

Meaning in journalism & media, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In journalism & media, kicker means: A memorable ending to a news feature, often a revealing quotation or detail.

In Turkish: çarpıcı kapanış cümlesi

How it is used

In feature writing, use for the closing payoff; in page design the word can instead mean a short line above a headline.

Example sentences

  1. The reporter saved the caretaker's quiet observation for the kicker.

    A final quotation can leave the reader with the story's central insight.

  2. The kicker returns to the broken clock mentioned in the opening paragraph.

    Revisiting an opening detail can give a feature a sense of completion.

Common collocations

  • strong kicker
  • write a kicker
  • kicker quote
  • featureA longer article that explores a person, place, trend or issue in depth, often with description, background and human stories rather than only the latest facts.
  • leadThe opening sentence or paragraph of a news story, which gives the most important facts and makes the reader want to continue.

More terms: Reporting and News Writing

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