Meaning of hard news | Babel Free

Definitions

Factual reportage of events which are socially or politically significant and of a serious nature, as opposed to the reporting of entertaining, humorous, or gossipy accounts of relatively inconsequential events.

uncountable

Examples

“Under Editor Murray J. Gart, 56, former chief of the Time-Life News Service, the Star stressed hard news and straightforward reporting over fancy writing and instant analysis.”

“Even in the late 70's […] women's news was regarded as, by definition, soft news. Today, issues like⟳ sexual harassment and the difficulties of single parents are understood to be, in every sense⟳, hard news.”

“Ed Bradley, who died yesterday of leukemia at age 65, […] covered hard news and soft features with equal commitment, grace and skill, and many of his stories and interviews were impossible to forget⟳.”

“Because homepages reflect⟳ the values of institutions, and Facebook and Twitter reflect⟳ the interest⟳ of individual readers. These digital grazers have⟳ shown again and again that they aren't interested in hard news, but rather entertainment, self-help, awe, and outrage dressed up news.”

“For many young people, clicking on to Instagram to get⟳ the latest news is now as second nature as picking up a daily newspaper once was to generations before. For a site that has traditionally been a platform for sharing lifestyle content rather than hard news, this is a shift in millennials and Gen Z, at a time when news updates seem more important than ever.”

CEFR level