News is information about current events that is intended to keep people up to date with what’s going on around them. It can be broadcast on TV or radio, in newspapers and magazines or via the internet and social media sites. News should be informative and educational, but it should also be entertaining. The entertainment aspect can come from other areas – music and drama programmes on the radio, comics or crosswords in the newspaper, for example.
What makes newsworthy is different from one society to another. For instance, a man biting a dog is not newsworthy in most societies, but if he bites a pig it will be. Other factors that determine newsworthiness include:
The fact that the event is unusual or out of the ordinary. This is the most important factor for a lot of news stories.
A sense of importance. A story is more likely to be newsworthy if it affects a large number of people or is potentially dangerous.
Proximity: Where the story happened. Journalists are usually more interested in local news than national or international.
A good quality news article will give a balanced view of the subject being covered. If it contains a lot of opinion or is too biased, then readers will be put off by the article and may choose to switch off or not read it at all. It is also important to be accurate and to provide a wide range of sources for the facts in a story. Opinionated sources like blogs, and opinion sections of newspapers or magazines can be useful for highlighting differing views on a particular topic but should not take the place of main source material.