A news story provides information and context about current events, and its job is to answer factual questions. News tells people about things that have happened. An opinion piece has a different job, because it argues for a point of view. An editorial expresses the views of a news organization's editorial board, and an op-ed is written by an outside contributor. Opinion pieces make an argument about current events and aim to persuade, not just inform. The best opinion pieces use facts and coherent arguments to explain why we should agree with the position. Editorial boards work separately from a publication's news staff, who are supposed to cover the news independently. The line is not always easy to see. A 2018 survey found that three-quarters of Americans could usually tell news from opinion in their go-to source, but fewer than half could on social media. Some publications now put the word opinion in headlines and add notes to editorials to separate news from opinion and build trust.
A third kind of writing needs a label as well. Sponsored content, also called native advertising, is made to look like a publisher's own content but is paid for. It should have a clear label. The Society of Professional Journalists code says journalists should distinguish news from advertising and prominently label sponsored content. On a newspaper page, designers place advertising so that it does not disrupt the editorial flow. Propaganda is a fourth. It speaks to our fears and insecurities, distorts facts and is one-sided, which is one way it differs from opinion. The News Literacy Project says people should learn to tell opinion from propaganda by working out the purpose of what they read. That question applies to every kind of writing: ask what the piece wants from you, and whether it is trying to inform you or persuade you.
Part of what draws a reader to a story is its subject. Studies of how people read the news find that, on average, people pay more attention to negative news than to positive news. In a study of more than 1,000 people in 17 countries, most paid more attention to negative news. Researchers watched people's heart rates and skin conductance as they viewed news, to see how their bodies reacted. Stuart Soroka suggests humans may be drawn to negative information because its potential costs far outweigh the potential benefits of positive information. The bias was not shared by everyone, which suggests there may be a market for positive news. The 2019 study said a bias toward negative news might be a large part of what drives negative news coverage. Human interest stories are used to balance out hard-hitting investigative journalism.
Editors also choose. Not every event becomes a news story, and editors' decisions shape whether and how a story is covered, how many resources go to it and how prominently it is featured. Editors consider timeliness, because recent events, or events in the making, are most likely to lead the news. They weigh proximity, since the closer an event is to the audience, the more important it is, and impact, since stories with large impact are more likely to be big news. Conflict is a news value too: editors generally consider conflict more newsworthy than peace. Unexpected events, such as natural disasters and accidents, are unpredictable and likely to have significant news value, while elections and major sports events happen on a predictable schedule, so news outlets can plan to cover them. Stories that are easy to simplify are likely to be featured more prominently than stories that are hard to understand.
What does careful reporting look like? Good news reporters try to check each fact and use more than one original source when they can. A news story says where its facts come from, asks people involved for comment, and tries to show more than one view. Journalists try to be fair, using neutral language and putting facts in context. NPR's ethics handbook says its accuracy standard is that statements of fact must be correct and in context, and verification is critical, as of February 2019. The News Literacy Project lists the marks of quality journalism: truthfulness, independence, balance, fairness and accountability. Accountability means acknowledging errors and correcting them promptly. The Society of Professional Journalists code tells journalists to take responsibility for the accuracy of their work before releasing it, and to acknowledge mistakes, correct them promptly and prominently, and explain corrections clearly. As of November 2026, the Associated Press says it must say so as soon as possible when it is wrong, and it points out each correction to the editors who use its stories.
Sources can be named or not. The SPJ code says anonymity for sources should be a last resort, for people who may face danger or harm. Under AP rules, as of November 2026, material from an anonymous source may be used only if it is information and not opinion, is vital to the report, and is not available any other way. The AP also says it does not alter quotations, even to correct grammatical errors. Reporters have duties to their audience. The SPJ code says journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived, and refuse presents, favors, fees, free travel or special treatment aimed at unduly influencing coverage. NPR says its primary allegiance is to the public, as of February 2019. Pursuit of the news does not justify arrogance or undue intrusiveness, says the code. A freelance reporter does not work full-time for a newsroom but is equally responsible for following journalistic ethics.
The system around the reader has changed. The changes in how news is consumed and produced have made it harder to verify if a news item is accurate. Researchers who study the news say people often overestimate how common misinformation in news actually is, and that can reduce trust in reliable sources, as of November 2026. What is missing matters too. A news desert is an area that lacks consistent local reporting that fills critical information needs. The 2024 Medill report found 206 U.S. counties with no local news source and 1,561 counties with only one, and said that the country has already lost more than one-third of its print newspapers over two decades. Medill also counts more than 660 stand-alone digital news sites. Among U.S. adults, as of November 2026, 88 percent say they at least sometimes get news from digital devices.
Some news is too much. Hearing scary or sad news again and again, or seeing strong pictures of it, can upset children. A pediatric psychologist advises limiting how much children see about a traumatic event, and not dwelling on it. Doctors say children need adults to help them make sense of news, so talk about current events with them often. If news is scary or upsetting, it is okay to stop watching and talk to a grown-up, who can help. Some news is uplifting, such as children their age taking a stand on an issue. Before you trust a story, you can ask a few plain questions. What is its purpose? Where do its facts come from? Is it news, opinion or something paid for? Does the organization fix its mistakes? Reporters ask who, what, when, where, why and how, and a reader can ask the same about the story itself: who made it, and why.
Words to know
- propaganda: one-sided persuasion
- editorial: board's opinion piece
- conflict: fighting, disagreement
- accountability: owning mistakes
- misinformation: false information
