News is information about events that affect a large section of the population. It may be about politics, crime, health, science, sport or the economy. It can be local or national. News articles are written by journalists and broadcast or printed in newspapers, magazines and on the internet. News stories are usually written in a formal style, with dates and facts. They may include quotes from experts in the field.
In many societies, it is people who make the news. It is their actions and reactions which make interesting reading or viewing for a newspaper reader, TV viewer or radio listener. News of accidents, births and deaths are of interest. Disasters such as bush fires, floods, cyclones or earthquakes are also important and newsworthy.
Other events which can make news are natural phenomena such as tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. These are often important for people in distant locations who are affected by them. The weather is often of interest – particularly when it is hot or cold, windy or rainy. Some events are not of general interest despite being new and unusual. For example, if an insect is discovered living on a plant which it did not previously inhabit, this may be newsworthy for scientists but would probably not be significant enough to be included in the news for the general public.
A well-written news story begins with an interesting hook, a dramatic anecdote or surprising fact which will grab the attention of the reader and cause them to want to read or watch the rest of the piece. This is called the “lede”. It should be placed at the beginning of the story. A good lead is essential, because readers are bombarded with so much news that they often have a limited attention span and may not read or watch the whole story.
It is then followed by the “nut graph”, which is a paragraph or several that provides the answers to the questions who, what, when, where and why. This is the part of the article that sets the context for the rest of the piece and explains why it is important.
The rest of the news story is then detailed, often in a chronological order. It is important that the facts are accurate and the opinions stated in the article are based on research. Journalists will often use a set of judgment guidelines to decide what points to emphasize in the news and which facts to include or exclude from a particular report.
It is important to question the news that we consume, as well as to consider how we consume it. Often news has a bias and we should look for other sources which can provide a different perspective on the same event. For example, asking a teacher or colleague where they get their news or looking at the different sources on an aggregated news app could help us to gain a more balanced view of what is happening in our world.