The major types or forms of journalism and non-fiction writing include:
- Expository / hard news — Transmits facts
- News analysis — Facts with interpretation
- Feature / narrative — Tells a personal story using imagery, dialogue, scene-by-scene construction, status detail, and other fiction techniques. Often called “long form” writing.
- Editorial — Opinion and persuasive, usually short.
Expository — Hard news lead: Appalachian coal mining has fallen by half in the past decade, according to a new report from the US Department of Energy issued yesterday. The report underlines the economic and demographic trends and major changes in the nation’s energy mix.
Expository — Personal: Ten years ago, Jake Smith spent his days underground, digging coal. “It was a hard life,” he said, “but one my father and grandfather had lived.” Today he is in graduate school, looking for ways to bring change to Appalachia and new jobs to those who — like him — can no longer work in the mines.
News analysis — When Jake Smith left coal mining ten years ago, it seemed as if the industry would go on forever. That year the Appalachian mines churned out over 400 million tons of coal, and he contributed his share. But now, coal production has been cut by almost half. What Smith and other Appalachian residents can do about the decline in the coal industry is not clear, but they are determined to find a way forward.
Feature / Narrative: The work day began an hour before dawn. He’d hope there would be a cup of coffee and a clean pair of coveralls. Its hell going down into the mine without coffee, even worse in a wet pair of coveralls. Jake Smith remembers those days.
Editorial: Appalachia’s underground coal mines are nearly all boarded up now. Most coal for electric power comes from Wyoming and Montana, but that is being phased out. Even people with nostalgia for the tight-knit coal camps of Appalachia’s yesteryear wouldn’t want to see the return of black lung disease, methane explosions and predatory company stores. That is as it should be.