News is information about current events, which people consume through various media outlets. These include print publications, television and radio. Online news is becoming increasingly popular as people access it through their mobile devices. The main purpose of news is to inform and educate, but it can also entertain – for example through music and drama on radio and cartoons and crossword puzzles in newspapers. News is often referred to as hard news because it consists of facts, figures and data. It should be written objectively, without personal bias.
The news media is sometimes accused of biased reporting, but reputable sources generally do not report false information or deliberately distort the facts. This is because the public relies on the news media to tell them what is happening and why it matters.
Some news stories are of general interest, for example weather reports and the price of food and drink. Others are more specific, such as a story about a particular art object. The interest level of a news item will vary between different societies. For example, a story about the death of a cow or pig will be more important to farmers than to the general population. The assassination of Mrs Gandhi may have been significant in one society, but it would not be newsworthy to the average person in another.
In-depth news articles are usually based on a single subject and require much research. They are more likely to feature interviews with people involved in the story.
Many countries have state-controlled news outlets, which are usually more critical of the West. These are often used as a political tool to influence opinion and can be very influential in the way that people perceive the world. The Internet has made it difficult for governments to control the flow of news, but there are still a number of ways that they can limit or restrict its distribution.
It is important for writers to know who they are writing for when creating a piece of news. This can be determined by the subject matter, for example a piece about the city government might be geared towards the citizens of that city. It can also be influenced by the format of the piece, for example a newspaper article might be shorter than a magazine article.
When researching a topic for a news article it is vital to source the five Ws – who, what, where, when and why. This will help you write an informative piece of news that your audience will find interesting. You should also ensure that you understand the timeline of a story in order to accurately describe events and provide context. In addition, it is important to write a news article that is well sourced and referenced, as this will give the reader confidence in your knowledge of the subject. This can be achieved by using a variety of online resources including governmental websites and search engines, news aggregators and subscription based news services such as LexisNexis Academic or Proquest Historical Newspapers.
