also: べたきじ
noun
insignificant article; filler piece
Newspaper jargon for a short, trivial article used to fill space, often without a headline or byline.
新聞の片隅にベタ記事が載っていた。
An insignificant article was placed in a corner of the newspaper.
Refers to local news or human-interest stories on the third page of a newspaper, not necessarily filler.
From ベタ (solid, plain, or filler) + 記事 (article). The exact origin of ベタ in this context is uncertain, but it likely refers to the article being a plain block of text without prominent layout.