Online Etymology Dictionary

journal: c.1355, "book of church services," from Anglo-Fr. jurnal "a day," from O.Fr. journal, originally "daily" (adj.), from L.L. diurnalis "daily" (see diurnal). Sense of "daily record of transactions" first recorded 1565; that of "personal diary" is 1610, from a sense found in French. Journalism is 1833 in Eng., likewise from Fr. (where it is attested from 1781).
"Journalism will kill you, but it keeps you alive while you're at it." [Horace Greely]
Journalist "one whose work is to write or edit public journals or newspapers" is from 1693. Journalese "language typical of newspaper articles or headlines" is from 1882.
etaoin shrdlu: 1931, journalism slang, the sequence of characters you get if you sweep your finger down the two left-hand columns of Linotype keys, which is what typesetters did when they messed up a line and had to start it over. A signal to cut out the sentence, it nonetheless sometimes slipped past harried compositors and ended up in print.
yellow journalism: "sensational chauvinism in the media," 1898, Amer.Eng. from newspaper agitation for war with Spain; originally "publicity stunt use of colored ink" (1895) in ref. to the popular Yellow Kid"character (his clothes were yellow) in Richard Outcault's comic strip "Shantytown" in the "New York World."
sensational: "aiming at violently excited effects," 1863, from sensation in its secondary sense. Sensationalism in literature, journalism, etc., first recorded 1865.
Pulitzer: annual awards for distinguished work in U.S. journalism, letters, music, etc., 1918, named for U.S. journalist Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), publisher of the "New York Globe," who established them in 1917 through an endowment to Columbia University.
lede: c.1965, alternative spelling of lead in the newspaper journalism sense (see lead (v.)), used to distinguish this sense from other possible meanings of the word, perhaps especially the molten lead used in typesetting machines.
gonzo: 1971, Amer.Eng., in Hunter S. Thompson's phrase gonzo journalism, from It. gonzo "simpleton, blockhead." Thompson in 1972 said he got it from editor Bill Cardosa, and explained it as "some Boston word for weird, bizarre."
spike (v.): 1624, "to fasten with spikes," see spike (n.1). Meaning "To rise in a spike" is from 1958. Military sense (1687) means "to disable guns by driving a big nail into the touch-hole." Fig. use of this sense is from 1823. Meaning "to lace (a drink) with liquor" is from 1889. Journalism sense of "to kill a story before publication" (1908) is from the metal spindle in which old-time editors filed hard copy of stories after they were set in type, or especially when rejected for publication.
freelance: also free lance, free-lance, "medieval mercenary warrior," 1820, from free + lance; apparently a coinage of Sir Walter Scott's. Figurative sense is from 1864; specifically of journalism by 1882. Related: Freelancer. The verb is first attested 1903.
tabloid: 1884, "small tablet of medicine," trademark name (by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co.) for compressed or concentrated chemicals and drugs, formed from tablet + Gk.-derived suffix -oid, from oeides "like." By 1898, it was being used figuratively to mean a compressed form or dose of anything, hence tabloid journalism (1901), and newspapers that typified it (1918), so called for having short, condensed news articles and/or for being small in size.
thirty: c.1413, metathesis of O.E. þritig, from þri, þreo "three" + -tig "group of ten" (see -ty (1)). Cf. O.Fris. thritich, O.S. thritig, Du. dertig, O.H.G. drizzug, Ger. dreissig. Thirty Years' War (1842) was a religious power struggle waged 1618-48, mainly on Ger. soil. The symbol -30- as printer and telegrapher's code to indicate the last sheet or line of copy or a dispatch is recorded from 1895. In 20c. jargon of journalism, it came to be a traditional sign-off signal and slang word for "the end."
lead (v.): "to guide," O.E. lædan "cause to go with one, lead," causative of liðan "to travel," from W.Gmc. *laithjan (cf. O.S. lithan, O.N. liða "to go," O.H.G. ga-lidan "to travel," Goth. ga-leiþan "to go"). Meaning "to be in first place" is from late 14c. The noun is first recorded c.1300, "action of leading." Meaning "the front or leading place" is from 1560s. Johnson stigmatized it as "a low, despicable word." Sense in card-playing is from 1742; in theater, from 1831; in journalism, from 1927; in jazz bands, from 1934.
big: c.1300, northern England dialect, "powerful, strong," of unknown origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian dial. bugge "great man"). O.E. used micel in many of the same senses. Meaning "of great size" is late 14c.; that of "grown up" is attested from 1550s. Sense of "important" is from 1570s. Big band as a musical style is from 1926. Slang big head "conceit" is first recorded 1850. Big business is 1905; big house "penitentiary" is U.S. underworld slang first attested 1915 (in London, "a workhouse," 1851). In financial journalism, big ticket items so called from 1956. Big lie is from Hitler's grosse lüge.
press (n.): "crowd, multitude," early 13c., from O.Fr. presse (11c.), from L. pressare (see press (v.1)). Sense of "to urge, compel, force" (now mostly in adj. pressing, 1705) is recorded from late 14c. Basketball defense so called from 1961. Meaning "machine for squeezing" (e.g. winepress) is recorded from mid-14c., from M.Fr. presse. Specific sense "machine for printing" is from 1530s; extended to publishing houses by 1570s and to publishing generally (in phrases like freedom of the press) c.1680. This gradually shifted c.1800-1820 to "periodical publishing, journalism." Meaning "journalists collectively" is attested from 1926. Press agent is from 1883; press conference is attested from 1937, though the thing itself dates to at least World War I. Press secretary is recorded from 1959.
silly: O.E. gesælig "happy" (related to sæl "happiness"), from W.Gmc. *sæligas (cf. O.N. sæll "happy," Goth. sels "good, kindhearted," O.S. salig, M.Du. salich, O.H.G. salig, Ger. selig "blessed, happy, blissful"), from PIE base *sel- "happy" (cf. Gk. hilaros "gay, cheerful," L. solari "to comfort," salvus "whole, safe"). The word's considerable sense development moved from "blessed" to "pious," to "innocent" (1200), to "harmless," to "pitiable" (c.1280), to "weak" (c.1300), to "feeble in mind, lacking in reason, foolish" (1576). Further tendency toward "stunned, dazed as by a blow" (1886) in knocked silly, etc. Silly season in journalism slang is from 1861 (August and September, when newspapers compensate for a lack of hard news by filling up with trivial stories). Silly Putty trademark claims use from July 1949.