What is slug line in a newspaper?

Slug line refers to the old lino-type typesetting machines that set one line of type at a time.This was usually a column width but also a headline. These lines of type were called slugs. Current slang seems to have picked up the term to refer to a quick and dirty press release. They usually do not tell the whole story and are sometimes used to distort the reality of the event being reported. It's bad journalism and editors that use it or let it slide are destroying the credibility of the main line media which is now referred to by some as the "lame-line media" Hence!