News is a medium that can inform, educate and inspire its audience. It can also be a form of entertainment. In addition to bringing people together through shared events and experiences, news can play an important role in building and strengthening relationships.
The word “news” conjures up images of black-and-white journalism in a newspaper or the nightly news on television. However, news doesn’t have to be that dramatic or national in scope. Even a local story about a company can be newsworthy.
News stories are most often dramatic and can involve good and bad characters. They may have a cause and effect and can also make use of the five W’s (who, what, where, when and why).
Drama is a key element in many news stories because it captures and holds our attention. For example, if someone is robbed at their local convenience store it’s likely that the news will highlight who was robbed (the good guys) and who did the robbing (the bad guys).
Timeliness is another important characteristic of news. It has to be something that is happening now or has just happened, rather than what happened 10 years ago (unless it is an anniversary of a significant event).