What Makes News?

News is a summary of current events that is presented in an interesting and informative way. It can include things like politics, crime, the weather, education and business. It can also be about celebrity and other popular culture issues. News is often written by journalists for the purpose of public dissemination, and may be published in newspapers, magazines, radio or television.

It is important to know your audience when writing news articles. This will help you decide what kind of content is appropriate and will ensure that your article reaches your intended readership. In the case of a newspaper, this may be based on a demographic such as age or location. Alternatively, the target audience may be determined by the subject of the article. For example, if you are recapping a local event, the target audience will likely be people who attended the event.

Whether written for an internal or external publication, news articles should always be factually correct. This is especially true for news that is being distributed in a public forum, such as the Internet. If an article contains inaccuracies, it could cause serious harm to your organization’s reputation. In addition, it is important to write in a style that will engage the audience and make them want to share your news with others.

A common mistake when writing news is over-emphasizing sensationalism. While shocking headlines can grab attention, they can also alienate the audience and cause them to distrust the information you are presenting. The goal of a news story is to inform, not shock.

To do this, you need to choose your facts carefully and present them in an objective manner. This will help your readers understand and appreciate the importance of the issue you are addressing.

Historically, news has been transmitted by word of mouth, in face-to-face meetings, over the phone and via mail, radio and TV. Today, the Internet has made it possible to spread news instantly and in a wide variety of forms.

While much has been written about what makes news, there are still many unanswered questions. For instance, why do some stories capture the attention of the media while others fail to do so? And what are the criteria for judging the quality of news?

In light of this, it is timely to review the work done on this subject. In particular, we wish to update the earlier taxonomy developed by Harcup and O’Neill (2001) and Galtung and Ruge (1965). We also hope to encourage further empirical research in this area. In particular, we urge studies that look at news selection across a range of political-economic contexts. Such work would provide a valuable complement to the existing theoretical work on news values. Hopefully it will also prompt more practical application of news value analysis to the problems facing the press today.