News is the information that tells us what is happening in the world around us. It is published in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. It can be current or historical. News is a very important part of a democracy because it keeps citizens informed about what is going on in their country or the world. This allows them to make better decisions and be involved in their democracy. Without news, a democracy cannot function properly. There are many different theories about what makes a story newsworthy. These include the Mirror Model, the Organizational Model and the Political Model.
The Mirror Model states that news should reflect reality. This means that it should show what really happened and not what people think of an event. It also states that a newspaper should have a neutral viewpoint. The Organizational Model focuses on the pressures that are exerted on various news organizations by a variety of groups and governments to promote certain ideas. The Political Model focuses on the fact that news is about politics and the power struggles that go on within a society or government.
It is also important to know your audience when writing news. Many articles are geared toward a particular demographic, whether it is geographical (a local article about a school function reaches parents with young children) or the topic of the story itself (a national political scandal affects all citizens). In addition to knowing your audience, it is also important to follow good journalistic standards. This includes writing in the active voice, using simple vocabulary and not including your own opinions. It is also helpful to use the inverted pyramid format-putting the most important information at the top of the article.
In addition to reporting the news, a newspaper may publish feature stories that take a more in-depth look at a particular subject. These are often done for special issues of the paper or as part of a series on a specific topic. A good example of this is a story about a fire that is followed by a feature story about the lives of those affected by it a week later.
A good way to test how unbiased your source of news is is to visit the website AllSides. This site shows how unbiased or biased a news story is by using crowd-sourced ratings. It is very eye-opening and will help you to learn how to identify news bias, even on your most trusted sources.
A well written news story will contain a mix of reporting and commentary. Reporting is the facts about an event, such as 20 people dying on a highway or that China’s GDP has increased by 8% this year. Commentary is when the writer inserts his or her opinion on the subject. This should be kept to a minimum, as most readers don’t want to be bored with an endless stream of opinions on every subject. However, a little bit of humour can be included to entertain the reader or listener.