When the media covers the National Football League, there is a lot of content out there. It is arguably the most popular and most watched sport in the country. There is sometimes when the coverage is cloudy when deciding if it is news or opinion, other times it is way more clear. Below are a few examples of the differences.
News
Brown finds new home, agrees to deal with Pats
This is a very clear example of news. When you read this story it states nothing but facts from the start saying “Antonio Brown on Saturday agreed to a deal with the New England Patriots, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.” They then went into more detail explaining how much money the deal is worth, if there is any incentives, guaranteed money, signing bonus and how long the deal is for. The story then goes on to say how Brown was released from the Oakland Raiders, how his guaranteed money with them was voided. This article is full of stats about Brown, the Patriots roster and key events that happened before the signing to lead Brown to the Patriots. The author does a good job in reporting nothing but facts. This is the perfect example of a breaking news story.
A Clumsy Start to the 2019 NFL Season for the Packers and Bears
This article is a very informing article about the Thursday night game between the Packers and the Bears. At the beginning of the article, it starts off explains how Adrian Amos called the play which led to his gaming winning interception. Then the article explains how the game was sloppy for both teams. It describes what happened in the game to a point where if you did not watch the game, you could feel like you did to a degree. They also used a good variety of quotes from after the game which gave good insight to how the players and coaches felt about the game. Overall, I think this was a really good news piece on the first NFL game of the season which used facts, quotes and statistics to paint a very vivid picture.
Opinion/Analysis
Patriots sign Antonio Brown: 8 thoughts on New England’s All-Pro addition
It is stated in the title that this is going to be an opinion story, eight thoughts on the Patriots signing Antonio Brown. Before even reading the article, you know it will be some one tell you eight of their thoughts on the move. For example, his number one thought is the Patriots could have one of the top wide receiver trios in modern NFL history. He has no facts behind this statement, especially since the season has not started and these three wide receivers have not taken one snap together on the field. He uses statistics to back up his thought but that does not mean everyone agrees to this. Later on in the article, his number seven thought was the Patriots should continue to run a spread offense. That is clearly an opinion and does not need an explanation.
NFL Predictions 2019: Complete Playoff Picks, Super Bowl LIV Champion, Awards Winners
Here is another example of an opinion article. This whole article is the MMQB Staff from Sports Illustrated talking about their playoff predictions, Super Bowl LIV Champions and award winners for the upcoming 2019-2020 season. These 13 reporters go through and list their winners then use facts and statistics to back their opinion on these various topics. Each of them have a graphic showing each team the believe will win in every round of the playoffs for both NFC and AFC. After the list the winners of the NFL Awards, they give a detailed paragraph telling why they believe their opinion will be correct.
