News, Analysis, and Opinion

Goals

1. Describe News, Analysis, and Opinion.
2. Skillfully use these concepts.
3. Get the rewards from using them.

What?

There are three types of items published by high-quality news sources: news, analysis, and opinions.

News Reports (News)

The job of this type of article is to present verified, relevant facts about a topic accurately and fairly, with minimal interpretation.

News Analysis (Analysis)

The job of this type of article is to go beyond the facts and describe what those facts may imply, offering evidence-based interpretations for various stakeholders without advocating a position.

Opinion

The job of this type of article is to present and defend a claim about a current issue, using evidence and logic to persuade the reader.

Notes:

1. In practice, a News Report is often labeled simply as News, and a News Analysis is often labeled simply as Analysis. We recommend becoming comfortable with both the formal labels and the commonly used short labels.

2. Essential Idea: The three types (news, analysis, opinion) exist because they do three different jobs: inform, provide context and implications, and persuade.

Why?

Learn the types of news items so you can choose the kind of item that best matches your aims.

1. Reading News (News Literacy):
   • Read news if you want to be informed about what happened.
   • Read analysis if you want to understand implications and context.
   • Read opinions if you want to understand what others believe about truth, what matters, or what should be done, and why they hold these positions.
2. Disseminating News (Journalism):
   • Use news to inform the public about verified facts.
   • Use analysis to explain context, implications, and possible interpretations of those facts without advocating a position.
   • Use opinion to persuade; that is, to advocate for a position about truth, values, and/or actions, using evidence and logic.

How to Classify a News Item

To classify a news item, use the category descriptions that follow to find the best match. Then, justify your choice. Some items mix types; classification is about the dominant job being performed, not perfection.

1. Straight News (The “What”)

The primary goal is to provide a factual, impartial account of an event.

• Core Question: What happened?

• Structure: Follows the “Inverted Pyramid”—the most critical facts (who, what, where, when) are at the top, followed by supporting details.3

• Tone: Detached, formal, and objective. Not emotional.

• Evidence: Relies on direct observation, official records, and quotes from multiple sides of an issue without the reporter taking a stance.

2. News Analysis (The “Why” and “How”)

News analysis sits between straight news and opinion. It provides context and depth to help you understand the significance of a story.

• Core Question: Why does this matter, and what are the potential consequences?

• Structure: Often thematic. It may connect current events to historical trends or explain complex technical details (e.g., how a new law will affect the economy).

• Tone: Professional and authoritative, but more interpretive than straight news.

• Evidence: Uses a journalist’s expertise or deep research to draw logical conclusions. It avoids “I think” or personal “feelings” but may predict outcomes based on data.

3. Opinion (The “So What?”)

Opinion pieces are designed to persuade which means they want their reader to agree with a claim or to take an action.

• Core Question: What does the writer want you to do or believe?

• Structure: Issue → Claim about this Issue → Reasons why this claim should be accepted.

• Tone: Subjective, passionate, and sometimes uses first-person (“I believe”) or rhetorical devices like sarcasm and irony.

• Evidence: Combines facts with personal values, beliefs, or political leanings.

Quick Comparison Table

Feature	Straight News	News Analysis	Opinion
Primary Goal	To inform	To explain context	To persuade
Author’s Voice	Invisible / Neutral	Expert / Interpretive	Personal / Subjective
Key Indicators	“Sources say…”	“This suggests…”	“We must…” / “I believe…”
Common Labels	Breaking News, Report	Analysis, Explainer	Editorial, Op-Ed, Column

How to Spot the Difference in the Wild

• Check the Label: Look for tags like “Editorial,” “Commentary,” or “Analysis” near the headline.

• Identify the “Thesis”: If the first two paragraphs are trying to convince you that something is “good,” “bad,” or “flawed,” it is likely an opinion piece.

• Observe the Adjectives: Straight news uses neutral descriptors. Opinion uses “spin words” (e.g., disastrous policy, heroic effort).12

• Check the Author Bio: Is the writer a “Staff Reporter” (usually news) or a “Columnist/Guest Contributor” (usually opinion)?

How to Evaluate a News Item

Evaluation is the process of judging how good something is on a scale that spans from low quality to high quality.

This section presents a practical recipe for evaluating the quality of a single news item.

Recipe

Classify → Apply the correct criteria → Rate on a quality scale

Step 1: Classify the item

Determine what kind of item you are evaluating.

• News: reports what happened.
• Analysis: explains what happened and why.
• Opinion: argues for what is true, valuable, or should be done.

Each category has different standards. Using the wrong standards guarantees a wrong evaluation.

Step 2: Apply the correct criteria

Only use the criteria that match the category you identified in Step 1.

• If the item is News, use the News criteria.
• If the item is Analysis, use the Analysis criteria.
• If the item is Opinion, use the Opinion criteria.

Step 3: Rate the item on a 0–10 quality scale

Assign a single score and justify it using the criteria.

Quality scale guidance:

• 9–10: Meets all criteria; no meaningful flaws.
• 6–8: Mostly meets criteria; some weaknesses or omissions.
• 3–5: Significant problems with key criteria.
• 0–2: Fails most criteria or is misleading.

Criteria for High-Quality News

News reports aim to inform by stating what happened.

Evaluate using the following criteria:

• Facts are correct.
• Facts are justified by evidence.
• Reporting is neutral and does not take a stand.
• Sources of facts are stated or cited.
• Facts are sufficiently complete for the context.

Criteria for High-Quality Analysis

Analysis aims to help the reader understand causes, context, and implications.

Evaluate using the following criteria:

• Builds on accurate and well-established facts.
• Clearly distinguishes facts from interpretation.
• Reasoning is logical and coherent.
• Relevant context is included.
• Uncertainty and limitations are acknowledged.

Criteria for High-Quality Opinion

Opinion aims to persuade the reader about truth, values, or actions.

Evaluate using the following criteria:

• Clear issue: you can state exactly what problem or question is being addressed.
• Clear conclusion: you can state exactly what the author is advocating or claiming.
• The conclusion is clearly justified by the reasons and evidence provided.
• Counterarguments are acknowledged or addressed.
• Values and assumptions that drive the argument are made explicit.

Summary

There are three types of news items, and each has a different job to do.

1. News: reports verified facts about a topic so readers can be informed.
2. Analysis: provides context and implications, without persuading, so readers can better understand what the facts may mean.
3. Opinion: persuades by following this pattern: Issue → Conclusion → Reasons that justify the conclusion.

Because each type has a different job, each is evaluated for quality using different criteria.

1. News items are evaluated by checking whether the facts are accurate, neutral, balanced, and do not promote a position.
2. Analysis items are evaluated by checking whether the context and implications are well reasoned and help the reader reach their own conclusions.
3. Opinion items are evaluated by checking whether there is a clear issue, a clear conclusion, and strong evidence and reasoning that justify that conclusion.

Success Criteria

1. Understand: Answer inquiry questions about news, analysis, and opinions.
2. Apply: Classify a news item as news, analysis, or opinion.
3. Analyze: Break each type into its component parts.
4. Evaluate: Judge the quality of each type.
5. Create: Draft high-quality examples of each type.

Tasks with Feedback

task: Why are there three types of news items? (news, analysis, and opinion)? task: What is an opinion news item? task: What is an analysis news item? task: What is news item in the context of the three types (news, analysis, and opinion) task: What rewards does each news item type provide to its audience? task: What does quality look like for each of the three types? task: How do journalists (news reporters) create each type? task: Classify the following news item (link to news item); at least 6 of there task: What are the essential parts of each type of news item? (news, analysis, and opinion) task: Classify this news item and judge its quality on the 10-scale. (link to news item); at least 6 of these task: Given this scenario, draft a an example of each type of item (news, analysis, opinion): at least 3 of these task: Given this news item, identify and label its component parts. task: Compare two examples of the same type and justify which is higher quality using explicit standards.” (at least 3 of these)