News is a form of communication that involves telling people information about events and topics. It is an important part of our lives and can be found on many different media platforms, including newspapers, radio, television, online and social media.
News has some very basic characteristics that are understood by everyone, whether they are working in the news business or regularly read/watch/listen to news as an audience member. These include timeliness, drama, consequence, proximity and narrative.
Timeliness: For any event to be considered newsworthy it must be timely. This means that it is happening now or will soon happen.
Drama: Stories involving drama are likely to become news, if they include an element of conflict or have clearly identifiable good and bad characters or situations. This could be a robbery at a convenience store, for example, where the perpetrators of the crime are clearly identified as good and the victims as bad.
Consequence: Stories that involve a great deal of damage, loss or death are likely to create interest for readers. This can be related to a natural disaster, an accident or the occurrence of a disease.
Proximity: Journalists prefer to report news stories that are local rather than those that take place in other countries, states or regions. This is because local stories have a greater personal connection to the reader, and may be more relevant to that person.
Narrative: Stories that are narrative in nature have a clear structure and make use of storytelling elements, such as storyboards, scripts or photographs to convey the main points of the news story. They also have a beginning, middle and end, which makes it easier for the reader to find their way around the story.
Data: Some businesses have large amounts of data that can be used to tell a news story. This can be a way to get a story to be more interesting by presenting the data in an organized fashion and explaining it through charts, graphs or other visualizations.
It is important to understand who your audience is and what kind of news they are interested in before you start writing a news article. This will help you determine what types of facts you need to include, how many paragraphs you need and what type of voice you should use. This will help you create a more engaging and informative article that your readers are sure to want to read.