News is what people read in newspapers, watch on TV or listen to on the radio. It is usually reported in chronological order and contains a combination of hard news stories that catch people’s attention and features that explain things in greater detail. It is important to remember that the purpose of news is to inform and educate people. It is not to entertain them, that is the job of other media – music and drama programs on radio, cartoons and crosswords in newspapers.
Those who produce news are consciously making judgments about what is and isn’t interesting. They are trying to capture an audience to sell to advertisers. If they think that something is of interest to a large number of people they will put it on the front page of the newspaper or the top of the news bulletin. They may even try to place it in a time slot that has the best chance of drawing an audience.
When writing a news story always begin with 25 compelling words that will grab the attention of your reader. This is known in journalism jargon as the lede. Then follow that up with a story that will hold the reader’s interest and answer any important questions they might have right away. When writing a news article it is best to use first names or initials for everyone and avoid using nicknames. Also, when quoting a person, make sure you have the full context in which they said it to be sure that what they said is true and accurate.