What Makes Newsworthy?

News

News is current events or information that relates to politics, business, sport and culture. People read newspapers, watch TV, listen to the radio and use the Internet to get their information about the world around them. The primary purpose of News is to inform the public. It also provides a platform to educate the public on complex topics and issues.

What makes a story newsworthy depends on many factors, but the most important is whether it affects a large number of people. Whether it is an earthquake that affects thousands of people or the stock market fluctuations that cause many to lose their investments, the more people that are affected by the event the more likely it will be newsworthy.

Another important factor is whether the newsworthy event has an element of drama or controversy. Stories that have clearly identifiable good and bad characters or situations are more likely to make the news than those that don’t. For example, a robbery at a convenience store will be more interesting to the reader if it is accompanied by a clear picture of the robbers and the robbed items.

Timeliness is also an important factor in determining what’s newsworthy. Generally speaking, if something happened recently or is happening now it is newsworthy. It’s not really newsworthy to hear about an event that happened 10 years ago or last year, unless it’s an anniversary of something significant, such as the first man landing on the moon or the September 11 attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.

The final factor in determining what is newsworthy is the public’s interest in it. If a story is boring, dull or uninteresting to most readers it will probably not make the cut for either print or television. However, if the subject matter is exciting or has the potential to be a source of humor then it might have an audience and could become newsworthy.

Having an understanding of the different factors that go into making newsworthy stories is important for anyone who writes or publishes them. The more knowledge that you have about the elements of a good news story the better writer you will be. When writing a news article always aim to provide the reader with the most important information as quickly as possible, so it’s best to put the most exciting and interesting facts above the fold. The term “the fold” refers to the crease in a newspaper where the front page is folded down so that only the most interesting information is visible. This same principle applies to online writing, where the most interesting and important information should be at the top of the page so that readers will see it without having to scroll down. This will ensure that the reader’s attention is kept throughout the story. Also, never include your own personal opinion in a news story if possible; instead, rely on quotes from the subjects of the story to convey their point of view.