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Hard News vs Soft News

This article, "Married Seniors Dead After Police Involved Shooting At Cobourg, Ont. Hospital,"  by Huffington Post is undoubtedly a piece of hard news. It is talking about a horrific crime that has traumatized those in the community. It gives the reader the who, what, when, where and why in a factual manner, with eye witness accounts and video interviews. This story is also one that needed to be covered quickly, and will be updated as more information about the crime is revealed.

"Netflix Canada: What's Good for November 2017?" an article also published by Huffington Post, is a perfect example of soft news. This story does not talk about any hard-hitting or pressing issues, but it does captivate the human interest side of things because who doesn't watch Netflix all of the time? The author also states their opinion on what they believe are the best movies and television shows coming to Netflix next month, with not exclusively delving in as to why they think so. This is an entertaining and quick read, making it a definite soft news piece.

This article, "How To Help Today's Perfectionist Girls Love Themselves," another article by Huffington Post, is neither hard news or soft news but somewhere in the middle.  Although it does not deal with a crime or politics, something that needs to be updated constantly or told to the public in a fact-based manner,  it does deal with the important issue of how social media is impacting our youth.  However, especially due to the title, this is primarily a human interest story, attracting the attention of young girls who may relate to this article and parents who may be worrying about their daughter's self-worth and self-esteem. It relays this information in a serious, educational tone, causing the article to be less of a soft news piece, but more in the blurred area of grey.

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