News is information about current events which can be of interest to a reader or listener. A good piece of news writing will grab the reader’s attention by being either interesting, shocking or exciting. The best news articles will have all of these factors but they also must be well written and accurate. It is important for journalists to be aware of the role they play in a democracy and that they provide their audience with factual information that is impartial and free from any bias or political influence.
A news story can be any event, discovery or piece of information which is considered to be significant enough to be reported on. Some events are not considered to be significant in themselves but when a large number of people are affected by them or when they have a high impact, then the event becomes news.
Many events which are described in the news are about famous people or about celebrity and showbusiness. In addition, news about celebrities can be of interest to the general public because of the way they live their lives or are involved in scandal. Other subjects which are often the subject of a news story are politics, religion, wars, natural disasters and sporting events.
Typically, when it comes to writing a news article, the writer will be either given a list of topics to write on or they will have to decide for themselves what topic they want to focus on. They should consider the inverted pyramid structure when they do this and try to make sure that they include all of the main points of a story.
Once they have a broad idea of what they are going to write about, the journalist should conduct research to gather all of the relevant information which is available about their chosen subject. They should then write their news article making sure to abide by the rules of ethics and to only use reputable sources which have been vetted. If they are unsure about any part of the article, then they should ask an expert for advice.
Once the article has been written, it should be proofread to make sure that it is completely correct and there are no grammatical or spelling mistakes. It should then be edited and finally published. If the article is being published online then it should be checked by a member of digital staff to ensure that it follows best practices. It should be accompanied by a photograph which is appropriate to the article and that any quotes from the source have been attributed accurately. A ‘breaking news’ headline is usually used to alert the audience to the importance of the story and this should be clearly visible in the title bar of the website. In addition to the written article, videos and audio can also be used to help tell a story. These should be carefully edited and must contain no inappropriate language or indecency.