What does "human interest stories" mean exactly?

Question

Can I apply this term to refer to articles dealing with famous people?
As an example, can I say that Michelle Obama meeting children is a human interest story?

I'm not an english speaker, that's why, I'm asking such a stupid question!

Answer 1

Strictly speaking, a human interest story is about everyday people just like the folks watching at home or buying the magazine at the store. Stories featuring people "just like us". They tend to be mildly humourous or cautionary but inspirational in tone. An example might be the woman who escaped a violent relationship, met a new and lovely partner, only to have him die on their honeymoon. Though grief-stricken, she has the confidence to live a happy life because of her short relationship with the new man. Funny animal stories tend to be favoured by tv news programs, like the skateboarding dog/squirrel/whatever, or the pony that has changed the life of ill children. You see?

Michelle Obama is the First Lady and therefore not "just like us" anymore, so human interest wouldn't be quite right. If the story was about the day the children had and focused on how they got to meet Mrs. Obama, what they talked about etc etc but never actually featured Mrs. Obama, THAT would be a human interest story. "The Day Michelle Obama Came To My School". Have I explained that ok?

Answer 2

A human interest story is a feature story that discusses a person or persons in an interactive and/or emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest or sympathy in the reader or viewer.



Human interest stories may be the story behind the story about an event, organization or otherwise faceless historical happening, such as about the life of an individual soldier during war-time, an interview with a survivor of a natural disaster, or profile of someone known for a career achievement.

Answer 3

Not the normal death and destruction stories we read all the time. To me it means feel good stories about the good things people do.