News is about events which affect the lives of people. It can be about wars, politics, education, weather, health, food, sports, art and entertainment. It is also about famous people and their lives, their achievements and the things that they do or say which cause controversy.
A story is news if it meets at least two of the following five criteria: It is new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people. This is a simple checklist but it can be useful in deciding whether something is newsworthy or not.
For a news item to be interesting it must entertain its readers. Human interest stories are often the most entertaining – people are interested in what happens to other people. This can be because of voyeuristic tendencies, a desire to learn about different cultures or a desire to feel that they are informed about what is going on in the world.
A news article should be written in such a way that it is clear and understandable to the general public. This requires a good knowledge of current affairs at international, national, regional and local levels. It is helpful to be able to identify the main players and their interests. It is also helpful to be able to differentiate between facts and opinion and to realise that a good news article will include enough information for the reader to form their own view point on an issue. This is called a balanced report.
