News is a form of communication that informs and educates your readers, listeners or viewers. It is often about current events that happen in the world around you – war, politics, crime, economics, education, health, natural disasters and sport. The information you write about can either be factual or based on opinion (i.e. editorial).
In general, news articles should be factual, but they can also entertain. For example, a man walking to work and getting off the bus at the end of his journey might not be very interesting, but it might be more interesting if the man was 90 years old and the bus was a special transport for endangered baby tigers!
People are interested in stories that impact a large number of people. This is why political or economic developments often make the news, because they affect many people, or at least a lot of people who are connected in some way. Natural disasters and human-caused catastrophes can also be major news items if they are very large or destructive.
In addition, people are interested in the lives of famous or well-known people – what they do, what they look like, their family life and their relationships. They are also interested in the opinions of experts and the views of everyday people on important issues. This is why a newspaper might carry an opinion piece on whether the Roman Catholic church should or should not allow women priests.
Often, the events that make the news are extraordinary. A famine, a hurricane or a murder are examples of this. People are also interested in the things that they might not see every day if they did – a man feeding his pet tiger, for example.
It is important to find a balance between all of these factors. You might have a very interesting and engaging story to share but, if you focus too much on the drama and consequence elements, it may not be suitable for news. The same goes for proximity and narrative – while it’s acceptable to use these in some types of news, you should try not to overuse them or they can lose their effect.
The last element of news worthiness is that it is difficult to tell without further investigation. This is why it’s so important to gather as much information as possible from multiple sources. This includes primary and secondary sources, such as official documents, eye-witness accounts and interviews with people who are close to or affected by the event.
Generally, it is not the writer’s job to influence or change the news they report on. However, it is important that they are impartial and do not insert their own bias into the article. This is particularly important in the case of an opinion piece, but it’s good practice even when writing hard news.