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soft news

English translation: feel good stories

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:soft news
Selected answer:feel good stories
Entered by: Robert Donahue (X)

06:16 Feb 26, 2000
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Journalism
English term or phrase: soft news
Do they mean "software news"? The term appears in the following context:
"However, the profitability of existing media is under siege, so there is pressure to restore profitability, either by cutting costs or by making themselves 'attractive'. There is a lot more soft news."
Alexander
fluff/human interest
Explanation:
"Soft" news means feel good stories.

"Hard" Versus "Soft" News
News stories are basically divided into two types: hard news and soft news. Hard new generally refers to up-to-the-minute news and events that are reported immediately, while soft news is background information or human-interest stories.

Politics, war, economics and crime used to be considered hard news, while arts, entertainment and lifestyles were considered soft news.

But increasingly, the lines are beginning to blur. Is a story about the private life of a politician "politics" or "entertainment"? Is an article about the importance of investing early for retirement a "business" story or a "lifestyle" story? Judging solely on subject matter, it can be difficult to tell.

One difference between hard and soft news is the tone of presentation. A hard news story takes a factual approach: What happened? Who was involved? Where and when did it happen? Why?

A soft news story tries instead to entertain or advise the reader. You may have come across newspaper or TV stories that promise "news you can use." Examples might be tips on how to stretch properly before exercising, or what to look for when buying a new computer.

Knowing the difference between hard and soft news helps you develop a sense of how news is covered, and what sorts of stories different news media tend to publish or broadcast. This can be important when you want to write articles or influence the media yourself.
Selected response from:

Robert Donahue (X)
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3fluff/human interest
Robert Donahue (X)


  

Answers


1893 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
fluff/human interest


Explanation:
"Soft" news means feel good stories.

"Hard" Versus "Soft" News
News stories are basically divided into two types: hard news and soft news. Hard new generally refers to up-to-the-minute news and events that are reported immediately, while soft news is background information or human-interest stories.

Politics, war, economics and crime used to be considered hard news, while arts, entertainment and lifestyles were considered soft news.

But increasingly, the lines are beginning to blur. Is a story about the private life of a politician "politics" or "entertainment"? Is an article about the importance of investing early for retirement a "business" story or a "lifestyle" story? Judging solely on subject matter, it can be difficult to tell.

One difference between hard and soft news is the tone of presentation. A hard news story takes a factual approach: What happened? Who was involved? Where and when did it happen? Why?

A soft news story tries instead to entertain or advise the reader. You may have come across newspaper or TV stories that promise "news you can use." Examples might be tips on how to stretch properly before exercising, or what to look for when buying a new computer.

Knowing the difference between hard and soft news helps you develop a sense of how news is covered, and what sorts of stories different news media tend to publish or broadcast. This can be important when you want to write articles or influence the media yourself.



    Reference: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/special_init...
Robert Donahue (X)
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  gtreyger (X)
6 days
  -> Thank you
agree  Aleksey Khudyakov
8 days
  -> Thank you
agree  Z_khd: tnx a bunch
3819 days
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