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Sunday, July 3rd, 2022

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Suggestion to Clarify IMDb's Definition of "News" Genre

I have a suggestion for how to clarify IMDb's definition of the News genre:

Reports and discussion of current events of public importance or interest. If the events are not current (at the time the title was initially released), use History instead. This generally includes newsreels, newsmagazines, daily news reports, and commentary/discussion programs that focus on news events. Objective.

The problem with the current wording is that the third sentence begins with the somewhat vague "This," and it is not clear which prior sentence the word "this" relates to. I believe the word "This" in the third sentence relates back to the first sentence, not the second sentence. 

My suggestion to clear this up is to switch the second and third sentences in the definition. That would put the exception (involving events that are not current at the time) at the end of the definition, rather in the middle.

This is what I am suggesting:

Reports and discussion of current events of public importance or interest. This generally includes newsreels, newsmagazines, daily news reports, and commentary/discussion programs that focus on news events. If the events are not current (at the time the title was initially released), use History instead. Objective.

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4 years ago

Hi All -

I'm just following up here to confirm that the Help Guide has now been updated.  Cheers!

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@Michelle​ Unfortunately, the "Updated" date at the top of the page still says 15 December 2021. Can this be updated please?

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@Michelle​ Thanks for the follow-up! That's great to hear. As @Marco points out, the "updated" date at the top of the page should also be updated.

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Hi @keyword_expert​ -

Thanks for the call-out, I will relay that information to the team to see if we can update the date on the guide.  Cheers!

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@Michelle​ New definition of the News genre:

News Reports and discussion of current events of public importance or interest. This generally includes newsreels, newsmagazines, daily news reports, and commentary/discussion programs that focus on news events. If the events are not current (at the time the title was initially released), use History instead. News titles are normally made for television, podcasts, or (in the case of newsreels) short films. Feature films, direct-to-video titles, and videogames would not normally be included in the News genre. Objective.

Examples: "Dateline NBC" (1992) |"Vice" (2013) | "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" (2014)

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4 years ago

I would suggest also adding to the definition something like this:

News titles are normally made for television, podcasts, or (in the case of newsreels) short films. Feature films, direct-to-video titles, and videogames would not normally be included in the News genre.

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@gromit82​ 

Would you add the News genre to this title?

News Bloopers: Hilarious Moments in Broadcast News (1999)

I think I could argue my question either way. I'm assuming the clips were at least a few months old at the time the title was released, but not old enough that the History genre should be added (as recommended in the guideline).

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@keyword_expert​ Personally, I doubt I would classify News Bloopers: Hilarious Moments in Broadcast News in the News genre, but I wouldn't raise an argument over an occasional title like this if someone else classified it as such.

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@gromit82​ What about this title? I think it may be appropriate to add both the News genre and the History genre to this title. Do you agree?

Operation Carpetbagger (1945)

Feature films that qualify as both News and History are very rare.

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Keyword expert: I don't think so, although there is so little information about the film on IMDb that I can't be sure. From what I see, though, I would be more likely to list it as a Documentary than as News.

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4 years ago

Hi @keyword_expert & @gromit82 -

Apologies for the delayed reply, I have filed a ticket for the appropriate team to review the Genre Help Guide updates you suggested.

Cheers!

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4 years ago

@keyword_expert  I see @Michelle is replying to your posts now, but still totally ignoring mine. Any idea what is going on?

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Hi @brianrisselada​ -

I have just replied to your original post now.  Again, my apologies if we missed your more recent  comments, we are working with limited staff through a backlog on older threads.

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Thank you!