English

Noun

hard news ‎(uncountable)

1. (publishing, broadcasting) 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.
   • 1981, Janice Castro and David S. Jackson, "Press: Washington Loses a Newspaper," Time, 3 Aug.:

     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.

   • 1993, "News About The Magazine," New York Times, 24 Oct. (retrieved 6 Dec 2010):

     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.

   • 2006, David Bianculli, "Ed Earned his ‘60 mins.’ of TV Fame," New York Daily News, 10 Nov. (retrieved 6 Dec 2010):

     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.

Antonyms

• infotainment, soft news

References

• hard news at OneLook Dictionary Search