What is News?

News is information about events that affect people. It is often about important, significant or unusual things. News may also be about ordinary or everyday events. It can include things like weather, sports, politics and war. It can also be about health, education and entertainment. News can be broadcast on radio, television or in newspapers and magazines. It can also be available online. People choose which sources of news to read or watch based on what interests them. People also use news to keep up with what is happening in their community and the world.

The aim of News is to inform and educate. It can also entertain, but this is not its main job. Entertainment is provided by other things, such as music and drama programs on radio, or cartoons and crosswords in newspapers and magazines.

A news article needs to be accurate and up-to-date. It is best to stick to what is happening now and in the immediate future. It is not good to write about something that happened a week ago – the community will already have moved on. It is also important to make sure the news is reported fairly and without bias. A news story should ask the questions: What, when, who, where and why. It should also avoid first-person pronouns, such as ‘I’ or ’my’, and instead use third person pronouns like ‘he’,’she’, ‘it’ and ‘they’.

People want to know about famous people – what they do, where they are and how they look. They also want to be informed about the people who are important to them. This includes people they work with, their children and their friends. People are interested in their own health and well-being, so they are interested in stories about medicine, hospitals and clinics. They are also interested in things like diet, exercise and sex.

Some events which happen naturally do not make news. For example, a man waking up, eating breakfast and going to work on the bus does not usually make news. But if an insect which had previously only lived in bush grass was found living on a plant which it had never before eaten, that would be newsworthy.

News is usually about people, but it can also be about things which happen to people or about plants, animals and the environment. The impact of these events on people is what makes them newsworthy. Climate change, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are all examples of natural disasters which make news. The death of a prominent politician or sports star is newsworthy too, because it has an impact on the lives of many people. The opinions of leaders or other influential people are also newsworthy. This is because they are likely to influence the behaviour of other people. For example, if a religious leader says that women should be allowed to become priests, this will have an effect on the beliefs and practices of the whole Church.