From podcasts to news articles, TV shows to social media video, academic research appears in a variety of forms to the general public. Yet, writing for a general audience is trickier than it seems. Experts and society are two worlds in which, unfortunately, written communication lie far apart. In order to bridge the gap, professionals write popular articles for publication in magazines and newspapers. Their purpose is to inform a non-specialist audience about new ideas, methods or practices.

There are many forms of this popular style of writing. Also known as feature writing, this category is easy to recognize. Human-interest, personality, How – To, the best, past events, news perspectives, and, informational articles all represent feature writing, Two examples from earlier in this course are 50 Lessons and How to Email Your Professor.

There are many opportunities to publish feature articles in professional situations. Newsletters are common, even in digital form. There are also trade magazines and organizational affiliates you will associate with. You could also update your own digital footprint with some “soft news” posts on social media.