News is the latest information about events, trends and activities. It includes information about war, politics, government, social issues, economy and business. It also covers fashion, entertainment and sport. News can be delivered by the print and broadcast media, or by social media networks. It has been transmitted and spread throughout the world since ancient times, and influenced by technology developments such as the printing press and communications technologies.
The concept of news was formalized in the 19th century, when newspapers emerged as a medium for delivering and disseminating news to the public. Previously, news had been transmitted orally and through written communications such as letters. The development of the telegraph and later radio enabled mass communication at a faster rate, and increased the influence and reach of the news.
People have always been interested in hearing about what is going on around them, and have used news as a way of keeping up to date with events in their own country and in other parts of the world. The news can be entertaining, titillating or informative, and is often of great importance to the community. It is important to note, however, that what is newsworthy in one society may not be interesting or significant in another.
What makes a story newsworthy can be viewed as meeting five criteria: surprise, contrast, magnitude, good or bad morale and relevance. The surprise criterion applies to stories that are new, unusual or unexpected; the contrast criterion to those that provide a sharp contrast with something previously reported; the good or bad morale criterion to those which have a positive or negative overtone, respectively; and the relevance criterion for those that are of particular interest to a newspaper’s readers.
Journalists make judgments about what is or is not newsworthy on a daily basis. They decide which stories to put on Page One and in what order; which to run in a bulletin or on an inside page; and which to discard. The best and most important news is usually given first.
Writing a news article starts with a headline that is catchy, emotion evoking or curious to the reader. This is because it will determine whether or not the reader will read the rest of the article.
Once the headline has grabbed attention, it is then followed by a short summary of what the news item is about. Afterwards, each paragraph builds on the previous ones by providing more details about the subject. Lastly, the writer adds a conclusion that gives the reader some sort of closure on the issue at hand.
Various models have been proposed to explain how and why a story becomes newsworthy, including those described above. It should be noted, however, that no theory can account for all aspects of the process; arbitrary factors such as chance and convenience can play their part in selecting stories for publication. This is especially true when a planned story falls through at the last minute, and a previously discarded news item is selected to fill the space instead.