News is information about current events and issues. The types of events that make the news usually affect a wide number of people and have a broad impact. For example, a fire at a home, an airplane crash or the death of a celebrity can all be considered news. Newspapers, TV and radio are the traditional forms of news but the Internet is also becoming an important source. News may be reported by for-profit, non-profit or government organizations.
The decision of what to report is the responsibility of a group of people within a news organization. These people are called gatekeepers and they sift through the events and issues that could be news to decide what will appear in a newspaper, on a TV news program or on a website. They often take recommendations from reporters, news writers and others.
It’s common to see news that focuses on politics, wars, business, crime and natural disasters. These are called hard news stories and they tend to be the top of a news page or the lead story in a broadcast.
Most of the time the things that happen to people or animals in a news story are dramatic. They are likely to have good and bad people involved and to have clearly defined good and bad outcomes. For example, a news story about a convenience store robbery will often show the robbers holding weapons.
Adding human emotions to a news story is a great way to engage the reader. People are interested in conflict, disagreements and arguments because it makes them feel like they are a part of the story.
