News is about events that are important to people, either because they affect them directly or because of the significance of what happens. People want to know what is happening around them, so they read newspapers, watch TV news and listen to radio for updates. News is also about the progress of a country, industry or institution; and it may include information about new products, achievements and milestones.
News comes in a variety of forms: newspaper stories, television and radio news reports, magazine articles, and even blogs. While each medium of news has its own format, there are some general elements that most stories share. The main thing that all news stories have in common is that they should be timely, interesting and significant.
The news that makes it into a newspaper, onto a TV news line-up, or posted on a news Internet site is the decision of people who work for a particular news organization. These people are called editors, or sometimes journalists or news directors. They may take recommendations from reporters or assistant editors, but ultimately they decide what news to report. They are also known as gatekeepers.
What is interesting or significant in one society may not be in another. For example, a political coup in the next-door country may be significant for some but not for others. For this reason, it is best to get news from a wide variety of sources. This way, you will be able to compare and contrast the different perspectives of what is happening in the world.
A good way to determine whether a story is newsworthy is to consider how many of the following news characteristics it has: timeliness, drama, consequence, and proximity. If it has all of these, it is probably a story worth reporting.
Another thing to consider when deciding whether a story is newsworthy is how much of it is about people. Generally, human interest stories make the most interesting and significant news. This is because people are more interested in the successes and failures of other people than in themselves. So, if a person has done something that is admired or appreciated by other people, it is likely to be newsworthy.
Similarly, if a person is causing problems for other people, it is probably newsworthy. This is especially true if the problems are affecting a large number of people or are affecting them in some way.
In addition to these criteria, a news story should be current and involve people. It is not usually interesting or significant if it is about an event that happened a week ago; it is unlikely to capture the attention of readers who already have moved on. For this reason, it is important to try to break stories that are unique or unusual. It is also important to write an interesting headline and a byline that includes the name of the writer. This is the most important piece of information that a reader will have to judge the quality of a news article.
