News is an important part of our daily lives. We hear it on the radio, read about it in newspapers and magazines, watch it on television, or look at it on the Internet. It keeps us informed of what is happening around the world, as well as in our own communities.
What Makes a Story News?
The first step in determining whether something is news is to determine its relevance. This is an important consideration because the news we see in newspapers and magazines, on TV, and on the Internet is all about people and events that affect them.
A story that is about a walk to school with baby tigers, for example, may be more of a news story than one that is about an explosion on the moon because it has significance beyond the personal life of the person reading the newspaper or watching the TV program. Similarly, the story of a robbery at the convenience store is more likely to be news than one about a murder because it has an element of drama, and makes clear who is good and who is bad.
Timeliness is also an important factor in deciding what will become news. That is why news organizations often include current events in their reports and articles.
If a farm wall collapses and kills a cow and a pig, for example, the story may not be much news in the United States but it could be a big deal in Japan. This is because there are different levels of importance in society, and that means that the level of interest in a story varies from country to country.
This is why it is so important for news writers to have the ability to find and use credible sources, which they can do by talking to experts, visiting the library or using the Internet. It is also important for them to write the story in a way that will make it interesting and appealing to readers.
How to Tell a Good Story
Once the story is written, it is up to the editor or news manager of the newspaper, magazine, radio station or television network to decide how to present the story. This is called the “gatekeeping” process, and it involves a lot of sifting through all of the information that comes in each day.
Some of the decisions that news editors or managers make can be quite complicated. They have to consider several factors, including the story’s timeliness, its impact and how it will be portrayed.
The news should be factual, impartial and fair. Objectivity is the quality that journalists strive for, because they want to be able to report the truth without bias or favoritism.
News is a complex, constantly changing phenomenon that has been around since Gutenberg’s printing press and the subsequent communications advances of radio, television, and the Internet. These developments have altered power relationships in many ways, but still largely left the power to publish in the hands of corporations, governments, and wealthy individuals. This has created new challenges for news consumers and journalists alike.