Editorial vs Article
There are many different types of writings in a newspaper. A reporter writing about an event or presenting a news story is a common type of articles that we encounter daily in any newspaper. There can be articles on personalities, companies, events, discoveries and inventions, new gadgets in the market, and so on. However, there is also an article by the name of editorial in all newspapers. There are differences in format and also content of an editorial and a simple article. Let us find out more.
Editorial
Different newspapers are owned by different groups having their own leanings in a broad political system. The owners can have thinking on social and political issues that are similar to those in government or can be aligned to other groups and forces that are in opposition. The opinions and thinking of the owners gets reflected in the editorial of a newspaper.
Editorial has not always been there in newspapers, and before it became an integral part of newspapers, news and views published in any newspaper seemed to contain the viewpoint of the newspapers owners. It meant that a particular newspaper reported news in such a manner that it became clear which political party or social group it was aligned to or leaned towards. To make newspapers more objective and to separate the news items from being colored because of political leanings of the owners, editorial started to appear in all newspapers. News articles became objective, and anyone could read articles without thinking about the leanings of the newspaper towards the government or the opposition.
We are living in the age of information and pay to read news articles and not the opinions of the editorial staff on every event or personality. This is why editorial is limited to just one page of the newspaper while the rest of the newspaper carries articles of all hues without any comments or opinions of the editorial staff.
Article
All news stories or events that are covered by the correspondents are presented in the form of articles with a catchy headline to arouse the interest of the readers. If the story is about a natural disaster, a court case, or an important meet taking place to discuss some important social or environmental issues, the article necessarily has timeliness about it as it is time bound and has to carry facts and information that is fresh and has taken place just now. The news item should not appear stale.
Another characteristic of a news article is that it should not have any judgment or remarks from the author or the creator of the story as it is based upon real life facts and situations. In fact, a simple article does not need concluding remarks from the writer, and it should be just reporting the facts as they are without being biased or judgmental.
There are also feature articles that carry information on any event that are still fresh in the memories of the readers.
What is the difference between Editorial and Article?
• Article is a general word that is used for all news stories covering events, natural disasters, accidents, meets and discussions, etc.
• Editorial is a special article that appears in a newspaper and carries the opinions of the editorial board on the issue discussed.
• The editorial staff decides the events and issues that need opinions of the editorial staff.
• An editorial is meant to persuade people to think along the lines of the newspaper. It is an attempt to influence the thinking of the people.
• Editorial is opinionated whereas general articles are unbiased and free from subjectivity.