News is a broad term for the information that people receive from many sources including newspapers, magazines, television, radio, Internet and even social media. It is a source of important events that people need to know about in order to understand their world and stay informed.
The way people get news is also changing. Thanks to new technology, people can now see up to five times as much news as they did in 1986. It is a great thing for people who want to be as well-informed as possible, but it can be overwhelming if they only watch or listen to one type of news.
There are four basic characteristics that make a story news: timeliness, drama, consequence and proximity. These factors help to decide whether a news story should be aired or published.
Timeliness: Stories that are happening right now, such as breaking news, will be more likely to make the news.
Drama: Stories with clear good and bad characters are also more likely to make the news. A robbery at a convenience store is a classic example of drama because it clearly has good and bad characters, or at least it makes it easy to tell who did what.
Consequence: The most important news stories are the ones that will have a big impact on people’s lives. The most dramatic news stories, such as natural disasters and riots, will often have large-scale consequences.
Proximity: The most dramatic stories will occur near where people live, work and play. This is especially true of local news.
Narrative: The most dramatic stories have a strong and compelling narrative. This means they contain a central point or idea and follow a predictable logical path from that point to its conclusion.
Depending on the news organization, it may be necessary to write an article that is short and punchy in order to convey the message. It is also important to keep the facts in the story simple and straightforward, avoiding long tangents or sentences that are winding.
Use quotations to support your main points. This is a great way to bring in other viewpoints and add depth to your piece. However, it is always important to identify the person whose quote you are using by their full first name or initials. This is to ensure that the person is identified in a way that makes sense to the reader.
If you are writing a short piece, you should include only a few quotes and no longer than a paragraph or two. This is to keep the text concise, and also helps to ensure that the reader will read through your entire article without getting bored or confused.
When writing a news article, it is important to remember that readers are often pressed for time. In this situation, it is a good idea to have the most important and interesting information above the fold (in newspaper or online writing) in order to encourage readers to stay interested.
