News is information about things that have happened or are happening in local, national and international communities. People can get information from many sources, such as newspapers, magazines, television and radio but also through the Internet. The main functions of news are to inform the public, educate and entertain.
In the past, most people got their news from trained journalists who wrote in newspapers and magazines or broadcasted on radio and television. Today, anyone can be a supplier of news to newspapers and other media and anyone can be a reader or viewer of the news. This change in the supply and demand of news has led to some differences in the content of news.
When writing a news article it is important to include all the relevant facts and not to bias the story towards one side or another. It is also good to have quotes from the people involved in the news story to give an insight into their views. It is also important to write in a clear and concise way that makes it easy for the reader to understand.
It is often better to keep a news article short and punchy, rather than using long sentences and paragraphs. It is also a good idea to use the inverted pyramid format – placing the most important information at the beginning of the article and then providing more background details. Lastly, it is always good to use the full first name and both initials of people when referring to them in a news article. This helps avoid any confusion over who is being referred to and also makes it easier for readers to remember the name of the person being discussed.
Most of the things that make news stories are events that affect a large number of people. These events could be political or social, but they could also be natural disasters or something as simple as a road traffic accident.
News stories usually contain a certain amount of drama and are more interesting if they have clearly identifiable good and bad characters. For example, a story about a robbery will focus on who was robbed and who did the robbing and will attempt to show how the robbers were caught.
Money stories are very common news items, whether it is about fortunes made or lost, the Budget, taxes, food prices or compensation claims. In addition, stories about sport, fashion and entertainment can also make the news. Entertainment news stories are usually designed to amuse the audience and this can be done through humor, drama or just by highlighting how the ordinary people are doing in comparison to celebrities. It is a good idea to tune in to a variety of news sources so that you can see how the same event can be reported in different ways and in order to widen your understanding of the world around you. This will also help to open your mind to different ideas and opinions that might not have been the way you would have seen the world before.