News is a type of information that is delivered to a reader or listener via a newspaper, magazine, radio, or television. The news is intended to inform, educate and entertain the reader or listener.
Whether it is written in an article or a report, the main purpose of news is to inform your audience. The main information should be provided at the beginning, followed by more in-depth details as the story develops. The news should be concise and clear, so that the reader can understand it without a lot of background information or jargon.
The first 1-3 lines should contain the most important facts, and they should be placed in chronological order, with new information added at the end of each line. This is called an inverted pyramid approach, and it will help the reader skim through the story quickly.
Timeliness is another key factor that gatekeepers consider when deciding on the content of news stories. The information is often updated frequently, and this means that the most recent news will be given priority.
A news story may be about an event that occurred recently, or it can be about something that happened a long time ago. It can be about a person who died, or it can be about an event that happened years ago, such as the invention of the airplane or the first man to walk on the moon.
News is also about things that are not human, such as natural calamities. For example, a bush fire or a drought can make good news because they affect many people’s lives.
Drama is another important element of news. For example, if a girl wins a medal in the Olympics in spite of great obstacles that she may have faced, this can make for a dramatic news story.
It can also be about a famous person, such as a movie star, who is involved in a scandal or falls from power. It can also be about the death of an animal, such as a lion, which may affect millions of people’s lives.
In addition, news can be about sex, such as when a man goes to bed with a woman. It can also be about sports, such as a soccer player winning a match against the best players in the world.
The way people judge what is news will depend on their society and the context of the news. For instance, a farmer who says that the Roman Catholic Church should ordain women priests is not necessarily a news story in a peasant culture because his opinion on a subject does not have the same significance as an archbishop’s.
However, it is a news story in a high-powered society such as the United States or the United Kingdom because the opinion of a celebrity can have a huge impact on the public.
News can also be about business, which is a form of entertainment for many people. For example, a company’s advertising budget can be a news story, as can its product or its sales figures.