Thank you for explaining further.
Sure, they'll help to set your application apart to some degree; unique extracurricular activities are always great to see. However, will those articles help make up for low numbers? No. Will they be nearly as beneficial as peer-reviewed journal articles? No, of course not. Authorship of a journal article demonstrates scientific curiosity, an understanding of the scientific method, a concerted extracurricular effort over time, the ability to read and synthesize literature, an understanding of the publication process, etc. Writing for a newspaper does not. So, they're in totally different realms.
But can having a unique and productive extracurricular interest in publishing help your application in a minor way? Absolutely.