Different Types of Newspaper Articles for Freelancers

Freelancer writers who want to try their hand at journalism tend to follow the established process of pitching editors, much like in the magazine industry. Knowing what kind of article to pitch is important. Here are a few of the most common types of newspaper articles.​

Freelance News Writing

News writing is the basic news reporting you’ll find in print. News writing explains the who, what, when, where, and why of noteworthy items. The length will vary, as will the subject matter. A staff writer usually covers the news as it occurs. However, freelancers may be able to slant recent news into a feature article or research the news event more in-depth.

There's also the possibility of a scoop – the stars align and you know something has occurred that no one else is aware of yet. But it's only a matter of time, so a freelancer would have to work at lightning speed to produce a quality article accepted for publication. Pitching the idea alone won't work – now you've just given away your scoop. 

Another element of this is feature writing. Feature articles are often longer, and they may cover lifestyle or cultural topics. They're often considered “softer” than current news articles. 

Recurring Columns

Columns may be guessed, freelanced or syndicated from other news organizations. They generally – although not always – follow an established theme and these may also be "softer” than hard news, but, again, not always. 

Op-Ed Pieces 

Op-eds are opinion pieces. They're generally not written by freelance journalists unless the journalist is working for another organization in a PR capacity. Op-eds live “opposite of the editorial” page – thus, they're called "OP"posite-"ED"itorial. Op-eds are around 600 words and usually take a position on an issue by someone of note in the field.

Letters to the Editor

Again, these aren’t generally written by a freelance journalist, but they're an important aspect of most papers. These opinion pieces are shorter and often come from the reading audience of the publication.

Writing for newspapers requires an ability to discern the interests of the public quickly, find timely and often local resources, and produce copy that is simple and scannable. Writing newspaper articles such as these is a skill that many writers can cultivate.