Types of News
News is current information about events that occur at the moment. This type of information is gathered by news sources and broadcasters to be reported to their audiences. This information can be about politics, war, business, crime and natural disasters. News articles are written to inform and educate people on the world around them. They can be read in newspapers, watched on TV or the radio and posted online.
Different types of news are aimed at different audience groups and have their own style and focus. The information should be relevant to the audience, as it will affect how they live their lives. Some examples of news include:
Hard news: This is what you would find on the front page of a newspaper or at the top of a web page, and is usually the most important piece of news. It has a wide impact such as a natural disaster or a political crisis. Hard news is factual but may be biased or emotional.
Soft news: This is more like a human interest story and often has a positive feel to it. It is often told in the form of an anecdote or a profile of someone. Soft news is generally not biased and focuses on positive stories such as cures, recoveries, wins and celebrations. It can also cover controversial issues such as abortion, homosexuality or religion.
Feature news: A feature news article takes a smaller subject and investigates it in detail. It is more in-depth than straight reporting and involves a lot of research. Feature news is not necessarily biased and should be informative but may be emotionally charged or contain drama.
Commentary and analysis: This is a news article that includes the author’s opinion on a topic. It can be positive or negative and is normally based on factual evidence. Commentary and analysis can be very influential on how readers interpret the news.
A news article should be well researched and provide the reader with enough facts to make an informed decision on a subject even if it contrasts to the authors own opinion. It should be objective and include a variety of sources to ensure its credibility. All sources should be credited and the source of information should be identified, whether it is an expert who can offer technical commentary or an eye witness account. Ideally a news article will be written in an inverted pyramid structure with the most important facts at the top to draw the reader in. This is to help keep them interested and encourage them to read the rest of the article. This technique is especially useful when writing for the Internet as it helps avoid the reader becoming overwhelmed with information. It also allows for easy sharing and discussion of the news.