What Is News?
News is the latest information about events that have happened, or are currently happening. It’s the kind of thing that you would read in a newspaper or magazine, watch on television or listen to on the radio. It can also be something that is posted on social media websites, or shared through video websites like YouTube. News is about what is going on in the world, or in your local community. It’s important to keep up with the news, so that you can make informed decisions about what is going on around you.
Typically, events that make the news are dramatic, have a clear good and bad side to them, and have a major impact on people’s lives. For example, if you miss the bus on your way to school, and end up having to walk all the way, it’s probably not going to be a big enough story for your local news program. However, if you accidentally come across a litter of baby tigers in the middle of the road, and take them to a shelter to be safe, then that might be a newsworthy event.
The most important characteristic of news is timeliness. It is what makes it so interesting to many people. People don’t want to know what happened last week or even yesterday, they want to hear about things that are happening right now, or at least as recent as possible.
In addition to the timeliness of news, it is important to consider its source. There are many different ways that news can be shaped and presented, and many of these have to do with the political and social views of the journalist or the organization producing the news. People tend to gravitate toward the news sources that support their own viewpoints, and ignore or avoid those which do not.
It’s also a good idea to vary the kinds of news sources that you use. Print publications tend to appeal more to logic and reason, while electronic sources such as television and radio appeal more to emotion. It is also helpful to tune in to a variety of different news sources, in order to get a more well-rounded understanding of how the same events can be portrayed differently across mediums.
News is all about capturing attention and grabbing readers, so it’s important to remember that the goal of news is not always to inform, but rather to entertain. News is a business, after all, and advertisers pay a lot of money to be seen during news programs. So it is no surprise that most news is geared toward a certain demographic. Depending on the topic, this demographic may be obvious, such as a city-specific newspaper, or it might be less clear, such as an article about zoning laws in a commercial area. In this case, the audience could be realtors or business owners.