News is a form of knowledge that keeps citizens informed about recent events. It is reported in many forms, including news broadcasts, print newspapers, radio, and television. In addition, social media are increasingly playing an important role in the dissemination of news.
The importance of news can vary from audience to audience. Some news is informative, while others are entertainment. Entertainment stories often concern celebrities or show business. They can also include human interest, witty headlines, and other interesting features.
For a story to be considered news, it must have a strong impact on readers. This can be measured by how the audience reacts. Some stories may be entertaining, but they may also be a scandal or have other negative overtones. Stories with positive overtones can be more memorable and relatable.
A study on news values published in 2001 by Harcup and O’Neill updated Galtung and Ruge’s 1965 taxonomy of news values. The study tested their criteria, and argued that they could still be useful.
News aggregators provide a single place for reading multiple news stories. However, many aggregators do not contain archival or historical news. Newspapers typically place hard news stories on the first page of the newspaper. These are viewed as important in numbers, whereas “soft” news is perceived to be less dominant.
In the 20th century, radio and television became the main means of transmitting news. Although newspaper layouts make it easy for busy readers to read less, they still need to be broken down into the most important aspects.
While news is transmitted in all kinds of formats, the boundaries between journalism and non-journalism have become blurred. This has resulted in new journalistic practices. Among other things, it has created a competition for exclusives. Advertisers and proprietors often determine what is news and what isn’t.
The lines between professional and amateur have also become blurred. Journalists claim to avoid bias in their reports. And several governments have implemented constraints against such bias. Still, some journalists have more power than others.
Studies have shown that the news value agenda outlined by newspapers does not necessarily represent the final word on news values. Rather, it is meant to make the process of news selection transparent.
Many studies have examined the newsworthiness of issues and how it changes over time. Shoemaker and Cohen (2006) found a similar model for most countries. Their study analyzed types of articles preferred by readers. Researchers found that proximity ranked as the most common news value for local sites. Similarly, conflict ranked as the second most popular news value for local sites.
Some news values are open to interpretation, but researchers have been unable to explain the exact causes of those differences. As a result, some news values have been referred to as “soft” or “hard”. Depending on the medium, these values can range from subjective to arbitrary. Despite this, models of news making are useful for defining how news is transmitted and how it is influenced.