News is the media which conveys current or interesting events to the public. It has been transported throughout history through oral means – a boy telling his brother about the latest event he heard, for example – but since modern times, TV and radio have been major outlets. People can also get their news from newspapers, magazines, websites and even social media networks.
In order to make something newsworthy, it must be new or unusual. The story should also be important enough to interest a wide audience. It’s worth noting that no news story is completely impartial, as all journalists and news outlets have both conscious and unconscious biases which can impact what they report on and how comprehensively they report it.
Some examples of common news topics include war, politics, education, business, health, the economy, fashion and entertainment. News may cover anything from royal ceremonies to celebrity gossip. It may also be about the weather, approaching storms or the latest scientific findings. Government proclamations and statements concerning laws, taxes, royalty, wars and the environment are also usually newsworthy.
There are many sources of news, including the BBC, The New York Times, Reuters and NPR. The library has a collection of traditional news publications as well as online resources such as Google News and the BBC World Service. The library also has databases which contain news articles. These can be found via the A-Z Databases link on the homepage or by selecting News from the All Database Types dropdown menu at the top of the page.