News is the information that is published in newspapers, radio and television. It is also posted on the Internet. It may include current events, history and opinions. The goal of news is to keep people informed about what is happening in their world. News is a form of entertainment and keeps people connected with each other.
Before you write a news article you must research the topic that you are writing about extensively. This involves finding all the necessary facts about an event and making sure they are accurate. It is also important to understand the timeline of the event and how it relates to other events in the past, present or future.
After researching your topic, begin by writing a snappy headline that informs readers of the topic and captures their interest. This is a crucial first step because if you don’t catch the reader’s attention they will not continue reading. Next, organize your information into inverted pyramid “buckets” based on their importance. This is a great technique for keeping your paragraphs short and concise while still providing adequate details about the event.
Decide which events and information are the most important for your story and write them at the top of the article. In print journalism this is referred to as “above the fold” because of the crease in the paper. This principle is equally important when writing online because the majority of your audience will not make it all the way down the page.
The biggest news stories are usually a combination of several different elements. The more of these elements a story has the higher its news value. A story that is new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people has the strongest news value.
Some events have a similar news value in two different societies, while others do not. For example, the death of a person or animal is not as big a news item in one society as it is in another. This is because the lives of people in one society have a much greater impact on its members than that of a single person in another.
A large part of news reporting is a function of politics and the economy. Therefore, economic and political events often have high news values. This is particularly true if they affect a broad segment of the population.
The occurrence of natural disasters is often newsworthy as well, as long as the public is informed about the situation. A major flood or a volcanic eruption can greatly affect the lives of many people in a very short time frame, so it is important to spread the word about these events.
Other types of news that are important for the general public to know about include weather and agriculture. The weather can have a huge impact on the daily routine of people, so they are interested in hearing about droughts, blizzards and other extreme conditions. Agriculture is also of interest because it affects the ability of people to live, with concerns about food shortages, crop diseases and harvest sizes.