Charticle: A bite-size combination of text, images, and graphics that in some newspapers takes the place of a full article. A portmanteau of chart and article. Pioneered by the print version of USA Today. Also known as "infographic."
From "Charticle Fever," American Journalism Review, October/November 2008:
For decades, news organizations have been seeking ways to stem the steady decline of newspaper circulation and woo those elusive 18-to-35 year-olds who are likely to get their news free on the Internet. Well, here's an equation that editors and designers in newsrooms ranging from small dailies in Oregon to major metros in Florida are increasingly turning to: Chart + article = charticle. (Think Brad + Angelina = Brangelina, but not nearly as hot and quite a bit geekier.)
Barry Popik, who writes about historical and contemporary language usage in his excellent blog, The Big Apple, has traced charticle back to February 23, 1998, when it was used by Peter Brimelow in Forbes magazine. By 2001, "Charticle" was a regular section in Forbes.
Hat tip to Nancy Nall, who recently pointed to this very funny* YouTube parody, "Fisticuffs at the Washington Post!" See Act II, at approximately 0:37: "Where Are We with the Charticle?" ("I'll tell you where we are—we're at the bottom of the heap!") Language NSFW. For background on the actual newsroom brawl being parodied, see this Washingtonian account.
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* Funny to ink-stained wretches, that is.
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