News is information about current events, transmitted through word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting or other electronic communication channels. It can include information about significant political, economic, social and environmental events. It may also describe historical or scientific discoveries, inventions or technological developments.
Most news stories revolve around people. This is because, in general, it is human events which change the world and which are of interest to readers and listeners. However, news stories can be about non-human events, such as cyclones, bush fires, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The news may also report weather conditions or climate forecasts.
In general, news should be presented in an objective manner. This does not mean that the journalist should not express an opinion, but rather that he or she should present the facts of the event in an impartial way. The reader or viewer should be able to form his or her own opinion of the event, without being influenced by the writer’s opinion.
If the writer is expressing an opinion, this should be stated at the end of the news article. This will help to avoid confusion for the reader or listener as to the purpose of the article and will ensure that the reader takes away a clear understanding of the event described in the news item.
It is important to remember that the job of the news media – newspapers, magazines, radio and television – is not to entertain. Entertainment comes from other areas – music and drama programmes on the radio; cartoons and crosswords in newspapers. The job of the news media is to inform and educate its audience. If an event has an element of humour, then this should be highlighted in the news item.
As with any kind of writing, a good news article should be concise and to the point. It should be readable for everyone and should not contain excessive jargon, or acronyms that need to be explained the first time they are used. It is important to have a second pair of eyes read the article before it is published, to check for spelling and grammatical errors, to trim down awkward sections of the article and to make sure that the story contains all the relevant information.
Once the main facts are listed, it is important to follow up these facts with other information that will add depth and detail to the story. This might include the contact details of a key person involved, additional facts about the topic or even quotes from interviews. It is always better to use a person’s full name and both initials on the first reference, rather than just their middle initial. This avoids jarring the reader and helps to make the article seem more professional. Finally, it is worth noting that it is good practice to identify the writer of a news article by his or her title. This will help to give the article an air of authority and will encourage readers to take notice of it.