Articles are the same as news. They come under the rules that apply to “syndicated content.”
They are both 100% white hat and search engines understand that both articles and news are created for the purpose of “syndication.”
Genuine articles are “written” to be published across many Web sites and they will never be penalized for duplicate content.
Duplicate content penalties primarily are triggered by people who may, for example only use the same content over and over just switching out a few keywords but not really writing anything that is original.
In short, some people are attempting to use the same old content over and over without ever really creating anything new or original.
If you are looking for short cuts, or grey area stuff, then your articles will definitely be penalized by the search engines.
But if you want more proof that search engines believe in and support “article distribution” and understand the value of “syndication,” then check out the Search Engines “Creative Commons Areas.”
Both Yahoo and Google have Creative Commons areas where they not only will accept your articles but they encourage others to “search for” and “use your original articles” so long as they follow the terms and conditions under the creative common license.
“If” article marketing was “duplicate content” or truly deemed as Spam, then why would the search engines themselves be offering up and also encouraging you to publish other peoples work?
Writing genuine, high quality articles will never get you penalized for “duplicate content” as long as you are doing it correctly. The search engines understand that both “articles” and “news” are fresh content that is meant for syndication.