News is information about current events. It can be delivered in a variety of ways, including word of mouth, letters, newspapers and broadcasting. Regardless of the medium, News should be factual and objective. Even if the writer has an opinion about the event, the article should present all sides of the story so readers can make up their own minds.
A good News article should be interesting, informative and short. Most people are bombarded with information on a daily basis; if you write an article that is long and goes off on tangents, readers might lose interest and turn away from your site altogether. If you’re writing an article for a newspaper, be sure to keep it above the fold (the crease where the paper is folded). This ensures that people who read your story in print will get all of the important information without having to scroll down to find it. The same rule applies to online journalism.
If you want to write a News article that will catch the attention of your audience, start with an interesting and dramatic anecdote or surprising fact. This is usually referred to as the lede or lead. Then follow it with the “nut graph” of the article, which explains what the story is about, why it’s timely and why readers should care. This is often one or two paragraphs. Lastly, include any potential future developments relating to the news item.
To decide what’s newsworthy, journalists use the same criteria as everybody else: what’s interesting; what makes you go “Gee Whiz!”; what’s important to your community; what you can’t get anywhere else; and what might affect people a great deal (good or bad). In addition, some types of news are more attractive than others. For example, a man taking the bus to work does not normally make headlines, but a man going to university on a scholarship might.
Another factor in deciding what’s News is how many people it involves. Larger news stories have greater impact than smaller ones. And stories that involve celebrities or famous people can attract a huge readership on their own.
Finally, News must be accessible. If it’s only available to a small group of people, it will not be widely read and therefore won’t have much effect. Fortunately, the internet and 24-hour news stations have allowed more and more people to access a wide variety of News sources. In addition to the mainstream media, international news organizations like Al Jazeera and Russia Today have a global reach. They also have the advantage of being able to report unbiased news that is not filtered through the views and prejudices of traditional Western outlets. In this way they have become a valued source of News for people around the world. This is particularly true in developing countries, where there is a demand for accurate and impartial information.