News is current information about events and things that are happening. It can be about anything – political events, disasters, war, crime, weather, science and discoveries, sport, celebrity and entertainment. It should inform and educate the public. It is also about the way people behave and how the world works.
Different societies have different interests and what is considered newsworthy can differ as well. For example, a story about a new insect discovered by scientists may be newsworthy in a specialist publication but it will not be of general interest. If it turns out that the insect is able to survive on a plant that it did not previously inhabit, this will be of general interest but this fact is unlikely to make the headlines.
Each type of media – newspapers, magazines, radio and television – presents the news in a slightly different way. The information they report is influenced by their audience and by the fact that they must sell advertising space to pay for their content. The result is that some news organisations tend to highlight only bad things and the negative aspects of an event.
It is important for writers of news to know their audience and the types of stories that will be of interest to them. It is recommended that people try to get their news from a variety of sources. This can include reading a number of different newspapers and listening to a range of radio and television news broadcasts. It is also a good idea to have someone else read your news article before submission. This will help to check that the spelling and grammar is correct and that the story is clear and concise.