A to Z Challenge - Z for Zip

Theme - Journalism jargons

No, this is not exactly a journalism jargon. However, it's a term that we have been hearing in newsrooms ever since the advent of computers.

Indeed, it's a computer jargon, and like many typography jargons that are also journalism jargons, this too can be adopted as one.

Since this is a very modern term, I don't have to explain what it means. Yet, for the uninitiated, it is the process of using a computer programme (like WinZip) to stitch multiple files into one compressed file.

The zipped file occupies less space on the computer than all the individual files put together and such a compressed file is easier to send to another person via the internet.

The recipient will have to use the programme to unzip the compressed file into individual files.

Today journalists use computers and mobile phones for typing out stories and taking photographs and videos. When there are multiple files to be transmitted via the internet, they are zipped so that they can be sent easily.

(This post is a part of the "Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2019".)