An article is a stand-alone section of a larger written work. These nonfictional prose compositions appear in magazines, newspapers, academic journals, the Internet or any other type of publication.
Articles can be divided into two main categories: news and features. Straight news stories deal with the timeliness and immediacy of breaking news, while feature articles are news stories that deal with human-interest topics1 or which offer the opportunity for providing more breadth or depth, context of history or other explanatory background material.
News Articles
- See also: News style
A news article is an article published in a print or Internet news medium such as a newspaper, newsletter, news magazine or news-oriented website that discusses current or recent news of either general interest (i.e. daily newspapers) or on a specific topic (i.e. political or trade news magazines, club newsletters, or technology news websites).
A news article can include accounts of eyewitnesses to the happening event. It can contain photographs, accounts, statistics, graphs, recollections, interviews, polls, debates on the topic, etc. Headlines can be used to focus the reader’s attention on a particular (or main) part of the article. The writer can also give facts and detailed information following answers to general questions like who, what, when, where, why and how.
Quoted references can also be helpful. References to people can also be made through written accounts of interviews and debates confirming the factuality of the writer’s information and the reliability of her source. The writer can use redirection to ensure that the reader keeps reading the article and to draw his attention to other articles. For example, phrases like "Continued on page 3” redirect the reader to a page where the article is continued.
While a good conclusion is an important ingredient for newspaper articles, the immediacy of a deadline environment means that copy editing often takes the form of deleting everything past an arbitrary point in the story corresponding to the dictates of available space on a page. Therefore, newspaper reporters are trained to write in inverted pyramid style, with all the most important information in the first paragraph or two. If less vital details are pushed towards the end of the story, the potentially destructive impact of draconian copy editing will be minimized.
Feature Articles
- See also: Feature writing
Feature articles are nonfiction articles that intend to inform, teach or amuse the reader on a topic. The topic centers around human interests. Feature stories may include conventions found in fiction such as dialogue, plot and character. A feature article is an umbrella term that includes many literary structures: personality sketches, essays, how-to's, interviews and many others.2 The following are examples of feature articles:
- Column — A short newspaper or magazine piece that deals specifically with a particular field of interest, or broadly with an issue or circumstance of far-reaching scope. They appear with bylines on a regular basis (daily, weekly, etc.). They may be written exclusively for one newspaper or magazine, they may be marketed by a syndicate, or they may be self-syndicated by the author.
- Essay — A short, literary, nonfiction composition (usually prose), in which a writer develops a theme or expresses an idea.
- Evergreen — A timeless article that editors can hold for months and publish when needed. They need little or no updating.3
- Exposé — These articles use in-depth reporting with heavy research and documentation. Used to expose corruption in business, politics or celebrities. Also called the investigative article.23
- Filler — Short non-fiction items, usually just under 300 words, used to fill in small spaces on a page of a magazine or newspaper page.4
- How-to — How-to articles help people to learn how to do something. They provide step-by-step information for the reader.5
- Human interest story — An article that involves local people and events and can be sold to daily and some weekly newspapers. Human interest elements, such as anecdotes or accounts of personal experiences, can support ideas in magazine articles as firmly as facts or statistics. Also called "true-life" stories.
- Interview —This feature story type article includes the text of the conversation between two or more people, normally directed by the interviewer. Interviews are often edited for clarity. One common variation is the roundtable — the text of a less organized discussion, usually between three or more people.
- Op-Ed — Articles that run opposite the editorial page. They are a response to current editorials and topical subjects. Political op-eds are the most common, but they don't have to be limited to politics. They should, however, reflect items that are current and newsworthy.
- Personal experience — An article in which the writer recounts an ordeal, process or event he has undergone.
- Personality Profile — A personal or professional portrait — sometimes both — of a particular individual.5
- Seasonal — An article written about a holiday, a season of the year or a timely observance. This kind of article will be submitted months in advance of the anticipated publication date.5
- Service Article — An article about a consumer product or service; it outlines the characteristics of several versions of the same type of commodity. The aim is to help a potential purchaser to make the best selection possible.3
- Sidebar — A short feature that accompanies a news story or magazine article. It elaborates on human interest aspects of the story, explains one important facet of the story in more depth or provides additional factual information — such as a list of names and addresses — that would read awkwardly in the body of the article. Can be found in a box, separated from the main article on the side or bottom of the page.2
- Travel literature — Travel articles inform and enlighten the reader through facts about a region's landscape, scenery, people, customs and atmosphere.2
Other types of articles
- Academic paper — is an academic article published in an academic journal. The status of academics is often dependent both on how many articles they have had published and on the number of times that their articles are cited by authors of other articles.
- Blog — Some styles of blogging are more like articles. Other styles are written more like entries in a personal journal.
- Encyclopedia article — In an encyclopedia or other reference work, an article is a primary division of content.
- Marketing article — An often thin piece of content which is designed to draw the reader to a commercial website or product.
- Usenet articles — are messages written in the style of e-mail and posted to an open moderated or unmoderated Usenet newsgroup.
Elements of an article
Headline
A headline is text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article. The headline catches the attention of the reader and relates well to the topic. Modern headlines are typically written in an abbreviated style omitting many elements of a complete sentence but almost always including a non-copula verb.
Lead
The lead (sometimes spelled lede) sentence captures the attention of the reader and sums up the focus of the story. The lead also establishes the subject, sets the tone and guides the reader into the article.6
In a news story, the introductory paragraph tells the most important facts and answers the questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how. In a feature story, the author may choose to open in any number of ways, including the following:2
- an anecdote
- a shocking or startling statement
- a generalization
- pure information
- a description
- a quote
- a question
- a comparison
- See also: Narrative hook
Body
- For the news story, details and elaboration are evident in the body of the news story and flow smoothly from the lead.
- Quotes are used to add interest and support to the story.
- The inverted pyramid is used with most news stories.
A feature article will follow a format appropriate for its type. Structures for feature articles may include, but are not limited to:6
- chronological — the article may be a narrative of some sort.
- cause and effect — the reasons and results of an event or process are examined.
- classification — items in an article are grouped to help aid understanding
- compare and contrast — two or more items are examined side-by-side to see their similarities and differences
- list — A simple item-by-item run-down of pieces of information.
- question and answer — such as an interview with a celebrity or expert.
Conclusion
One difference between a news story and a feature article is the conclusion. Endings for a hard news article occur when all of the information has been presented according to the inverted pyramid form. By contrast, the feature article needs more definite closure.1 The conclusions for these articles may include, but are not limited to:5
- a final quote
- a descriptive scene
- a play on the title or lead
- a summary statement
Characteristics of well-written articles
- The piece is a factual account of a newsworthy event.
- The writer is objective and shows all sides to an issue.
- The sources for this news story are identified and are reliable.
- Show, don't tell.
Authorship
Publications obtain articles in a few different ways:
- staff written — an article may be written by a person on the staff of the publication.
- assigned — a freelance writer may be asked to write an article on a specific topic.
- unsolicited — a publication may be open to receiving article manuscripts from freelance writers.
- See also: Slush pile
Notes
- ^ a b Sova, Dawn, How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines. Thomson Arco: 2002. ISBN 076891089X, pp. 1, 87
- ^ a b c d e Polking, Kirk, Writing A to Z. Writer's Digest Books: 1990. ISBN 0898795567, pp. 136, 143, 224, 422, 497
- ^ a b c Wilson, John M., The Complete Guide to Magazine Article Writing. Writer's Digest Books: 1993. ISBN 0898795478, pp. 19, 21, 32, 37-38
- ^ Boggess, Louise, How to Write Fillers and Short Features That Sell. Harper & Row: 1981. ISBN 0060104929, pp. 70-83
- ^ a b c d Wray, Cheryl Sloan, Writing for Magazines: A Beginner's Guide. NTC Publishing: 1990. ISBN 0844259616, pp. 8, 31, 50, 96-97
- ^ a b Jacobi, Peter, The Magazine Article: How to Think It, Plan It, Write It. Writer's Digest Books: 1991, ISBN 0898794501, pp. 50-77, 90
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