News vs. Opinion vs. Analysis
In a November 18 Journalism Blog post, we went over the differences between fact and opinion. We determined that a fact was defined as something that can be proven and evidenced to be true, whereas opinion cannot. So what happens when you put start putting facts or opinions together to form an article? What types of articles are there, and what's the difference between them? That's what I'll explain.
Like a lot of terms in journalism, newspaper article types vary across different news organizations. The Nest has its own way of making these distinctions and explaining them to readers, but this is a more generalized discussion of the different types.
The term "newspaper articles” is designed pay homage to print journalism, but applies the same to digital publications (and the digital sub-publications of broadcasters, like CNN.com or CTVnews.ca). The word "newspaper" by itself is often used in the industry to refer to any text-based news media communication, leading to terms like "online newspaper" in reference to digital publications like the Tyee and other web-based outlets.
The Nest's Reporter's Manual and Editorial Policy Guide (currently being renewed) describes six types of articles published in the paper: news reports, analyses, opinions, reviews, OPEDs, and editorials. Today, we’re focusing on just the first three.
The news report is the most basic type of article expected of a newspaper, and is the staple of journalistic objectivity. News reports are impartial accounts of a story based on the facts, and avoid false balances by portraying all sides in relation to the truth. While it is generally understood that no report is 100 per cent objective, and entirely bias free, news reports are the articles specifically mandated to check all forms of bias and self-interpretation at the door. When people speak of "unbiased" or "balanced" reporting, this is the type of newspaper article they are likely referring to.
The aim of a news report is to deliver an unbiased record of an event, whereas an opinion's aim is just to opposite. As its name suggests, opinions are thesis-driven, essay-like texts that draw upon facts and interpretation to draw distinct conclusions. They play an important role in determining the significance of a news story, and the greater transferring of intelligence across all disciplines and subjects. Research and evidence-based findings are combined with comment to tell readers what a columnist (someone who writes opinions) believes of a news story.
At The Nest, opinions are the medium to access the paper's commitment to free expression, where we welcome different perspectives and give student journalists a chance to publicly discuss their views. In stricter, professional newsrooms, journalists who write opinions and journalists who write news are separated, to respect and protect the objectivity of reporting from the insertion of personal biases.
News analyses are more a bit more complicated than news reports or opinions. With the growth of explanatory journalism in the last two decades, print and digital analytical articles have become increasingly employed by news media to interpret complex issues, and have been met with success among news consumers.
The Nest defines a news analysis as an "in-depth interpretation or explanation of a news story through a close examination of the facts and their contextual significance or meaning." It is intended to be separate from opinion.
News analysis are most often written by journalists with experience or knowledge in a specific subject, qualifying them make observations based on the facts of a story.
But by nature of this process, personal opinion has the increased potential to invade the fact-based observations.
For years, journalism scholars and public editors have cautioned that while increased contextualized coverage has its benefits, the differences between analysis and opinion can and has at times blurred to obstruct the lines distinguishing them.
At the same time, many in journalism and academia have also said that explanatory and analytical journalism has greatly aided the public's fluency in current affairs. News media organizations that publish analyses have their own regarding article type, including rules regarding who can write them and when its appropriate use them.
Fundamentally, news reports, news analyses, and opinion each have a specific approach to informing readers of current affairs.
News Report: Here's what happened.
News Analysis: Here's why it happened. And what it means.
Opinion: Here's what I think of what happened. Or what should have.
These three are the primary newspaper articles that The Nest publishes and has its student journalists focus on when bringing the news to Eric Hamber's community.
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