By donalee Moulton
Writers are always looking to get the word out about their latest book. Readers are always looking for information about their favorite authors and looking to discover new favorites. Media plays a key role in getting information into everyone’s hands.
As a freelance journalist and a communications director, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make stories appealing to reporters. Now I find myself doing the same thing as a mystery writer. In part, that’s why a friend and I wrote Newsworthy: Media Relations Without the Spin (Business Expert Press). I thought I’d share some of what we discuss with you.
We talk about news as if it’s one thing. Did you hear the news? According to the news …. It was in the news. News isn’t one thing. It’s many things. In particular, it is two things: hard and soft.
Hard news is often what draws us in and keeps us reading, listening, and watching. You’ll find it on the front page, at the start of a newscast, and at the top of the hour. Hard news is big news: controversy and crisis. It is immediate, and it is important. It’s often called “breaking news.”
Soft news does not send us scrambling. It is the intersection between information and entertainment. It is not usually immediate—you can learn about the signs of stroke or how to make an easy apple pie without apples at any point in time—and it is increasingly about personalities, famous and otherwise.
Many companies have carved a niche in the soft news market. Dove, for example, is known for its “Real Beauty” campaign, which uses social media and other media platforms to promote body positivity and self-acceptance, going beyond traditional product marketing. Airbnb, Inc., uses social media and its blog to share stories about travel, local culture, and the experiences its platform facilitates, reinforcing its brand values and creating a sense of community.
To understand the distinction between hard and soft news, take a look at these headlines:
Hard news:
20% Increase in Leafy Green Consumption Among Teens
Soft news:
Why Spinach Smoothies Are Suddenly Cool — Even for Picky Eaters
Hard news:
School Board Introduces Weight Limits for Student Backpacks
Soft news:
The Weirdest Things Teachers Have Found in Student Backpacks
Topics and timeliness are only two of the features that serve to classify news as hard or soft. How the story is told also differs. Hard news almost invariably starts up front with the “headline” then provides the details to flesh out the headline. Soft news has more options; it can be more creative and more flexible in its structure and content.
Kinda like a good mystery.
Ladies of Mystery 
I suppose I was aware of the distinction between hard and soft news, but I never understood it in such clear terms. The contrast in the two headlines about the same topic is brilliant. I’ll look at newspapers, etc., differently now. Good post.
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It’s interesting when we do media training that most organizations are afraid of the potential consequences of hard news but forget about the benefits of soft news.
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For writers, it’s the “soft” news, the lifestyle stuff, where we need to focus — and even then getting media attention is hard.
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Fascinating, Donalee! I never thought about a division of news. You just opened up a whole news world for me.
Thanks, Heather
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