Month: September 2025

Feature stories are about the things that happen in our communities, that you would not expect to be newsworthy but which have an impact on people’s lives. They are often long, detailed articles which take up a great deal of space in a newspaper or magazine, so they need to be very well written. They also need to be interesting.

They can be about a person (profiles, celebrity pieces), a topic or an issue (such as the environment, crime, health, etc.), a location, a type of work or activity (artisanal craftwork, community development, tourism, etc.), a particular sport or pastime, something seasonal or even a lifestyle piece which covers areas such as food, fashion, home or leisure.

You can use all the skills you learned in hard news writing to create a good feature article. You can also include elements of narrative and storytelling, interviews, surveys and sensory details (like photographs and videos). But you must always ensure the content is king; there is less scope in a news feature than a hard news story to let your literary style show through.

A newspaper which only had features and no news stories would seem shallow, so they are a vital part of the mix. However, it is possible to overdo it with them; they should be balanced with plenty of hard news items. Breaking news is important and you should be quick to respond to it, but turning out a lot of features when nothing of any significance is happening can confuse people.

A special report is an in-depth investigation into a particular subject. In the field of journalism, this can involve exposing wrongdoing or corruption and requires a level of understanding and expertise that not all journalists have. Specialized reporting is a powerful tool for increasing journalist credibility and allowing them to convey complex subjects for their audience.

In accounting, a special report is a customized financial report that deviates from the standard formats required by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. These unique reports are often used to comply with contractual agreements or regulatory provisions and can include certain sections, accounts, or items of a financial statement. Special reports are usually conducted independent of a standard audit but can also be done alongside one.

The Hastings Center periodically publishes the results of its research projects in bioethical topics as “special reports.” These single-authored essays or essay sets organized around topical bioethical developments are another venue for the Center’s researchers to communicate their findings to a larger audience. They are meant to be comprehensive and offer deep insight into the complex issues facing society today. The reports are available in both PDF and HTML format.

A market trend is a perception that financial markets tend to move in a consistent direction over time. These trends can be categorized as secular for long-term shifts, primary for medium time frames or secondary for shorter time frames. Traders attempt to recognize these trends by using technical analysis, a framework that characterizes predictable price tendencies in support and resistance levels.

Businesses hope for an upward trend to manifest as a consistent rise in sales, suggesting growing consumer demand and a healthy market presence for their products or services. Analyzing these trends can help them shape pricing, messaging and marketing strategies, as well as determine where to invest resources or whether their products are suited for certain regions.

Identifying and tracking market trends can inform strategic decisions, from inventory levels and capacity planning to purchasing, facility expansion and marketing activities. To maximize the benefit of this analysis, identifying objectives and scope helps narrow the search for the most relevant data sets, tools and techniques.

It can also be beneficial to examine competitor and customer trends, such as what kinds of features are attracting consumers or what pain points they might be trying to solve. For example, when the popularity of a product such as bamboo baby clothes rises, looking at reviews might reveal a trend toward reducing sensitivity and itching associated with certain fabrics, like wool or synthetics. This could inspire a new line of products that address this need.

A news update is a story that adds more detail to a previously reported news event. This can be as simple as a follow-up to an earlier article or it can be a deeper explanation of an issue or topic that is already in the news. The first step to writing any good news article is researching the topic thoroughly. Start by making a list of all the important facts. These are the facts that are necessary for your readers to understand the story fully.

Once you’ve gathered all the important facts make sure they are arranged in a logical manner. It’s a good idea to have someone else read over your article before you submit it for publication. This extra set of eyes can help you catch things that you might not have noticed when reading it yourself. Also make sure you have included enough information that anyone reading your news article can form their own opinion.

The stock market is a key part of modern economies. It’s where companies raise vast sums of money to accelerate successful startups, expand operations and pay off debt. It’s also where high-net-worth individuals and investors with more modest means buy shares in publicly traded businesses, often to take advantage of gains and have a voice in how the company is run.

The earliest days of the stock market began when entrepreneurs raised money by giving parts of their business to friends and family in exchange for capital. This was the first form of private equity. Today, the stock market is a global trading system where stocks are sold and traded through regulated exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq. Some stocks are also traded “over the counter” through broker-dealers and other financial institutions.

As for how stocks go up and down, it comes down to supply and demand. When demand for a specific stock is greater than the number of shares on offer, its price rises. Factors that drive demand include things like a company’s profitability, news about the economy here and abroad and the general sentiment of investors.

Many investors keep tabs on the market by following indexes that reflect the performance of a group of stocks, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or S&P 500. You’ll hear about these indexes on news programs as they report the ups and downs of Wall Street.