A feature story differs from regular hard news in that it is constructed around human interest, sometimes called soft news. A feature is usually longer in length than a news story and tries to capture the essence of something that is out of the ordinary or someone that has accomplished something extraordinary. Maybe it's a kid who started a lemonade stand when he was ten and now owns a dozen convenience stores, or it could be an 88-year-old lady who runs a marathon every year. Ultimately, a feature story should grab the reader and make them say, "wow."
An editorial is another type of newspaper story that is not news but rather the opinion of the writer. A small paper normally runs an editorial at least once a week written by the chief editor or owner of the paper. Larger papers with many writers on staff might group several editorials together in one section called, you guessed it, editorials. The reason for grouping them together is to make sure readers can easily separate opinion from fact when flipping though the paper.
Another type of newspaper story is called a column. A column is written regularly by one writer and covers any of a number of topics he might be interested in or which he thinks his readers might be interested in. As opposed to hard news story, columns are commonly written in a casual, personable style that allows the writer's personality to shine through. Readers will find columns interspersed throughout the paper depending upon the subject matter.
The backbone of any newspaper is its hard news stories, which often runs on the front page. News stories are fact-driven articles written about recent current events and often separated into local, national and international topics. Local stories focus on what's happening in the immediate city or neighborhood. A national news story covers events of interest within the United States in general, such as a recent decision by the Supreme Court. International news expands to include occurrences in other countries, like a mine collapse in Russia.