human interest

noun

1. a quality of a story or report, as in a newspaper or on a newscast, that engages attention and sympathy by enabling one to identify readily with the people, problems, and situations described.

human interest

noun

1. (in a newspaper story, news broadcasting, etc) reference to individuals and their emotions

Other Words From

• human-interest adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of human interest¹

First recorded in 1775–80

Example Sentences

The 30-year-old, who is the ninth recipient of the award and works for Kenya’s Nation Media Group, specialises in human interest stories.

From BBC

The News at One has also been an extended to one hour, and will work with Salford-based BBC Breakfast to focus on more human interest stories.

From BBC

Pehlivan described gathering the information and families wanting to participate in genomics research beginning in 2010, traveling long distances to rural areas where the patients were mostly located, a human interest story itself, to make sure the database and clinical information would show an accurate representation for these families.

From Science Daily

Where “Ordinary Angels” stumbles is taking one unique human interest story from 1994 — in which Louisville rallied around Michelle Schmitt to help get her a liver transplant during a raging blizzard — and making it instead the story of one woman, Sharon.

From Los Angeles Times

Where “Ordinary Angels” stumbles is taking one unique human interest story from 1994 — in which Louisville rallied around Michelle Schmitt to help get her to an awaiting liver transplant during a raging blizzard — and making it instead the story of one woman, Sharon.

From Seattle Times