How to Tell the Difference Between an Opinion Piece and a News Story

Everyone has an opinion and thanks to thousands of new media outlets, just about everyone can express those opinions. The problem for many would-be journalists is differentiating between objective news writing and opinion pieces. How do you tell the difference? This article will explain, in fairly general terms, how to tell the difference between an opinion piece and a news story.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Check the location of the story in the paper. Anything appearing on the Op-Ed (Opinion-Editorial) pages is an opinion piece.
2. Check the “slant” of the Web site. Pieces on a liberal Web site such as MoveOn probably won’t have “both sides” in them.
3. Look at the sources. Opinion writers use scientists, officials, experts and others that support their positions. If someone is blogging about the military and quotes only anti-military sources, chances are the story is not a news story but an opinion piece.
4. Look at the by-line. Most columnists have by-lines with photos. While not the best give-away, it is a perk of being a columnist. Chances are if a piece has a byline with someone’s photo, it is a column.
5. Read the headline and determine the purpose of a story. If the story about the evils of liberal environmental policy, don’t expect it to be a news story.

Tips & Warnings

• Use common sense when reading anything. It is usually apparent when something is opinion. Columnists have the ability and editorial latitude to express opinion as fact (to them at least). Look at the topic, the words and the slant--all of which are ready giveaways as to whether something is an opinion piece or a news piece.

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