News is information about current events that affect the community or country. It is an important source of knowledge and is often used to inform the public on issues that they care about. It is also often used to entertain, but this should never take precedence over informing the public. Entertainment should come from other areas – music and drama on radio and television; crosswords, cartoons and horoscopes in newspapers.
The most important aspect of a news article is that it is current. It must be about something that has happened recently or is happening right now. It must be interesting enough to catch people’s attention, and it must be accurate. A good news article will also have a conclusion that wraps up the story and leaves the reader with something to think about.
When deciding what makes newsworthy, editors will look at the impact of the event, whether it is violent or scandalous, how interesting it is and how many people are involved. A story about a coup in the neighbouring country, for example, is likely to be much bigger than a local man catching the bus to work.
Choosing what to report on can be difficult as there are so many different events that can happen. Newspapers will usually report on a variety of topics because they have to appeal to the widest audience possible and must include international, national and local news. Other sources of news include aggregators such as Google and Yahoo, as well as specialist websites and blogs. Some library databases, such as LexisNexis Academic and Proquest Historical Newspapers, also contain a range of news stories.