News is information about events that have occurred, are occurring, or will occur in the near future. It can be in the form of text, video or audio. It is usually written for publication in newspapers, magazines or radio and broadcast on television. It may be factual or fictional. It may also be serious or humorous. Its purpose is to inform, educate or entertain its readers, listeners or viewers.
What is considered newsworthy depends on the society in which you live. It can also vary according to the audience of a particular news outlet. For example, national newspapers will generally have a larger audience than local ones. They will therefore cover events that affect a wider population, including international matters like crises and wars. However, they will still cover local issues that are important to the residents of a particular country or region, such as local sporting events and other major events like elections.
Essentially, news is anything that has happened, is happening or will happen which is interesting, significant or worthy of attention. This can be a person, an event or a trend. It is generally believed that human interest is the main driver of news but this is not necessarily the case. Non-human interests can also make news such as weather, animals and plants, pollution, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or cyclones.
News also serves as a watchdog, exposing corruption and unethical behaviour by individuals and organisations. It can also highlight different opinions and perspectives on a particular issue, which helps people to understand complex problems and make informed decisions.
It is generally accepted that news should be accurate, although it must also be engaging and interesting. It should provide a sense of urgency and be accessible to its audience. It should also be easy to read and understand, and should not contain too much technical detail or jargon.
When writing a news article, start by identifying the key players and their roles in the story. This will help you to determine the main points of the story and who is the best person to quote. Remember to always credit your sources. Once you have all your facts gathered, brainstorm an engaging headline which will grab the reader’s attention. It should be short, snappy and encapsulate the main point of the story.
Once the headline is written, you can begin to write the news article. This should be based on the five Ws of journalism: who, what, where, when and why. It is helpful to map out a timeline of the events to ensure that all relevant details are included. You should also use the five s of writing: sentence length, spelling, tenses, words per sentence and paragraph structure.
Lastly, don’t forget to include any background information or expert opinion that will add value to the article. This can be done by adding quotations or using a table or graph to illustrate a particular point. You can also include links to any websites or other publications that may be of interest to your readers.