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The idea of hard news embodies two orthogonal concepts:
* Seriousness: Politics, economics, crime, war, and disasters are considered serious topics, as are certain aspects of law, science, and technology.
* Timeliness: Stories that cover current events??the progress of a war, the results of a vote, the breaking out of a fire, a significant public statement, the freeing of a prisoner, an economic report of note.
The logical opposite, soft news is sometimes referred to in a derogatory fashion as infotainment. Defining features catching the most criticism include:
* The least serious subjects: Arts and entertainment, sports, lifestyles, "human interest", and celebrities.
* Not timely: There is no precipitating event triggering the story, other than a reporter's curiosity.
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