News is a way of informing the public of current events and developments occurring in local communities, countries and around the world. It informs the public about politics, science, economics, culture, and other topics that are of interest to them.
In order for a story to be considered newsworthy it must meet the following criteria: it must be new, unusual, interesting, significant or about people. While things happen every day, many of them do not make the news because they are not unusual or out of the ordinary. For example, if someone wakes up, goes to work and takes the bus everyday that would not be newsworthy, but a coup d’etat in the country next door might be.
It must also be presented concisely. With the advent of 24-hour news stations, people are exposed to much more information than ever before and if a story is lengthy with long tangents or winding sentences they may get bored and stop reading. In order to keep your reader interested try to include the most important information first and then follow it up with additional facts.
When preparing to write a news article it is best to avoid expressing your own opinions, but instead to let the information speak for itself. It is acceptable to add a few details and quotes from the people involved, but don’t go overboard. For example, if you are writing about a fire that occurred at a home, rather than focusing on the damage caused by the fire, talk to the people who lived there and find out how they feel about the incident.