News is a form of communication that is used to convey information about events that occur in the world. It is usually transmitted via television, radio or the Internet. Its purpose is to inform people about recent events, changes in the economy and other important things.
How to Write a News Story
In order to be successful in writing news articles, you need to understand the basic concepts of what makes up news and how it is reported. This will help you to make informed decisions when you’re drafting and editing your own news stories.
Timeliness: The most important characteristic that gatekeepers of news media consider when deciding what to report is timeliness.
It is more effective to tell a story about something that happened recently than to report on what occurred 10 years ago. This is why news stories are so often about current events.
Drama: Many different kinds of drama can qualify as news, from escapes, accidents and searches to sieges, battles or court cases.
Contention: When two or more people, nations or groups are in conflict, news stories are most likely to draw interest from readers.
Prominence: If a prominent person is involved in an event, it becomes news because people want to know about them and their life.
Currency: When people hear about something that is happening today, it is more important than if it were something that had been happening for a long time.
Oddity: Unusual and extraordinary events generate interest in the audience.
Emotion: Stories of human interest are also very popular amongst the public.
Usefulness: Many people use news to keep up with things that happen around them, from weather forecasts and train timings to government policies and other news items of general interest.
Educational Value: Many newspapers have columns that teach the public about education, career options, and opportunities for higher studies.
Magnitude: Stories perceived as sufficiently significant in the numbers of people involved or in potential impact, or involving a degree of extreme behaviour or extreme occurrence.
Relevance: Stories about issues, groups or nations that the audience perceives to be relevant to them.
Follow-up: Stories about subjects already in the news, and whose significance is perceived to be imminent.
There is no doubt that these basic characteristics of news are well understood within the news business and by many audience members. However, it is not yet clear what will happen in the future to these traditional ideas about what news is and how it should be reported.