News is a general term for articles which are current and of interest to the public. It can be a story about an event, a piece of information or a person. This type of article is often seen in newspapers, magazines and online.
News articles are usually written to inform, educate and entertain readers about current affairs/events. Typically, these stories are factual with minimal opinion or bias. They aim to capture the attention of readers through the use of facts, quotes and visuals.
Often, the choice of what is newsworthy will vary from society to society. For example, if a man bites a dog in one culture, it will not be newsworthy, but if a man kills a dog in another culture, this may be a much bigger news story.
In terms of the source of news, it is important to note that the bulk of news items originate from government sources and the police. These stories tend to have a higher level of news value than those from the press or interests groups.
It is important to remember that it is not the role of the writer to inject their own opinions into a news article. If possible, it is a better idea to let the individuals involved in a story speak for themselves through quotes. This can help to add a sense of authenticity and be a positive way to build rapport with the readership. In a digital age, it is also worthwhile to explore whether or not the desire for an article to be shared on social media is impacting on the selection of news items by journalists (Tien Vu and Welbers 2015). The results of such studies could usefully be used as a basis to further develop and test scholarly explanations of news values, as put forward by Galtung and Ruge.