When Virginian-Pilot reporters and editors post articles on our website, we sometimes attach labels to those stories – exclusive, breaking, analysis – and we’ve never really explained what those labels mean.
So here’s a collection of those labels, and explanations about them. We’ve also tried to explain some other topics that often cause confusion.
Analysis: Not all stories that appear on PilotOnline.com or in the newspaper are straight news stories. Sometimes, we’ll write or select from a wire service an analysis story to provide context to an issue or topic. Analysis stories are not opinion pieces.
AP: This designation is added to stories written by the Associated Press, which is a national news agency. Learn more about how we select stories from national news agencies.
Breaking: This label identifies a story that has just been published, is of an urgent nature, and has been judged to be something the public should know right away.
Contributor: Similar to correspondents, but unpaid. These stories are provided to us, and we have opted to share them with you.
Correspondent: The Virginian-Pilot employs many freelancers who are paid to write stories for the newspaper but are not full-time staffers. Photos that we’ve paid someone to make appear with the credit of “For The Virginian-Pilot.”
Developing: This label identifies a story that is not urgent but will evolve as facts become available and will be updated throughout the day.
Editorial: The editorial is the viewpoint of the editorial board, a group that consists of the publisher, editorial page editor and associate editorial page editor. While it relies on independent reporting and research, the newspaper’s editorial espouses a viewpoint emblematic of its role as a leader in the community it serves. The newsroom operates independently from the opinion staff.
Editorial cartoons: These are best described as an opinion column expressed artistically. They reflect the viewpoint of the artist who, much like a columnist, presents an issue with a point of view and who signs his or her work.
Enterprise: Stories that help readers understand why something happened or how it works, that bring context or explain concepts surrounding news events, or bring attention to little known people or topics from the Hampton Roads community. These stories usually take longer to pull together because of their complexity.
Exclusive: A story of some significance no other Hampton Roads media outlet has reported on. This can include stories that we report on first even though other outlets may report on them later.
Investigative: Stories in which reporters take weeks or months looking deeply into one topic or subject. It usually relies on multiple sources, sometimes data and documents.
Letters to the editor: These are items written by readers and selected by the reader engagement editor. They are usually comments on current issues or responses to items in the paper. They are generally about 300 words or fewer. Learn more about how we select letters to the editor.
Opinion: The Pilot publishes many stories that contain the opinion of the author. We try to label clearly all stories that contain opinion. These items could be from the opinion page staff at The Pilot, or from a columnist in the newsroom.
Opinion columns: These are longer items that provide more detail and context than a letter to the editor, and which are not authored by a member of the newspaper’s staff. These columns bring perspective to public issues and civic affairs, and are occasionally solicited by the editorial staff. They reflect the opinion of the author.
Watchdog: A story that exposes or critically analyzes the actions and decisions of powerful institutions or people in our community, including government bodies, businesses and nonprofits.
Wire: This designation is added to stories gathered from one of our wire services, such as the Washington Post News Service or Tribune News Service. Learn more about how we select wire stories.
