The human interest article is often the most common type of story found in magazines. The human interest article is a non-fiction story written written for specific audiences and does not embody the "newsy" tone of newspaper articles. Examples of human interest articles are,"National dancing group for kids teaching class, grace," and "Dr. Jane's tips on staying cancer-free."Human interest articles are also longer in length than other magazine stories, such as the how-to articles or personality profiles.
How-to articles provide step by step instructions on how to accomplish a specific action. These articles typically provide a list of necessary items needed to complete the task and can include step-by-step pictures to guide the reader visually.
Profile articles -- which can also be called personality profile articles -- focus on the life or accomplishments of a specific person and often incorporate a question-and-answer format. Profile articles almost always include a picture of the profiled individual and may include other photos that are relevant to the story.
Research or expose magazine articles provide extensively-researched information on a particular topic and are generally serious in tone. The purpose of the research/expose story is to reveal new information, and they often include fresh statistics and revealing quotes.