fluff pieces
Light news features
Fluff pieces are lightweight journalism—stories that entertain rather than inform, lacking substance or critical edge.
They typically cover celebrities, human interest, or feel-good topics without challenging anyone: The magazine runs fluff pieces on movie stars between its serious reporting.
The term is usually dismissive, implying the content exists to fill space or attract easy clicks rather than serve journalistic purpose.
- puffBrief burst of air
- soft newsNon-urgent journalism content
- fillerSubstance closing gaps
- flatterPraise to please
- softnessYielding to gentle pressure
cotton · lightweight · PR · celebrity · celebrity profile · red carpet · gossip · padding · promotional · press release · feel-good · shallow · tabloid · interview · glowing · hype · spin · entertainment
- lowbrowreality TV, tabloids, gossip magazines, trash TV, celebrity gossip
- filler contentfiller, pablum, boilerplate, lorem ipsum, placeholder
- slow news contentsilly season, dog days, soft news
fluff piecesinvestigative reporting
Journalism exposing hidden truths
hard news · investigative journalism · muckraking · in-depth reporting · watchdog journalism
fluff, piece, fluffy, fluffier, fluffiest, fluffiness, fluffed, fluffing, pieces