News is information about current events. It can be distributed through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting and electronic communication. The news can be about anything: war, government, politics, education, health, business, fashion, entertainment and sport. News can also be about people: their achievements, failures, or deaths.
The news can be influenced by different factors: social, cultural, economic and technological. These factors may determine what events are considered to be newsworthy and the extent to which they will be reported. In addition, the news can be influenced by the political climate and the social attitudes of the time. For example, during a revolution or civil war, the propagation of the news may be inhibited by government suppression or control.
In most societies, news is primarily about people: what they do, what they think, and how they affect the world around them. However, natural events can also be newsworthy, if they happen to be particularly unusual or significant. The information in a news story may be sourced from a variety of people: government officials, police, politicians, the press and interest groups.
It is important to know your audience when writing news, especially if you are trying to write for a broad spectrum of readers. If you are writing for a local newspaper, your target demographic might be obvious, but if you are writing for a magazine with a more general appeal, you might have to do some research into what sorts of things interest the audience you are trying to reach.
A good place to start when writing a news article is with the headline. It should be snappy and catchy and give the reader a preview of what they can expect to read in the rest of the article. If you are writing for a publication that uses a crease in the paper to separate sections, your headline should be placed above this “fold”.
The next paragraphs or sections of your news story will provide more detail about the event. This will usually include the facts of what happened, including when and where it occurred, who was involved and why it is important or interesting to the reader. The details should be clear and concise without leaving out any information that is essential to the news.
The final section of your news story should be your opinion on the matter. This can be a brief statement or an entire paragraph, depending on the forum in which you are writing. Be sure to cite any sources you are citing and to avoid any bias in your statements. A well written news article should inform and entertain, although the entertainment can come from other areas rather than the news itself: music and drama on radio or television, cartoons and crosswords in newspapers. It is also important to remember that the job of news is not to entertain, but rather to educate its readers or listeners. It is for this reason that it is often considered a serious medium, despite its popularity in some societies.