News is information about a current event, a change or something that has just happened. When writing a news article it is important to ensure that the facts are correct and the piece is well researched. It is also important to consider the bias of the article and try to find different sources to help you get a more balanced view of the situation. Online aggregators can be useful for this, as they will provide you with a range of articles from a variety of outlets with different biases.
There are a number of criteria that will make an article ‘newsworthy’, which include:
Exclusivity: Stories about things which have only just happened or become known for the first time. This includes ‘first person’ interviews, letters and investigations.
Interest: The topic must be interesting and significant to the audience, either in terms of a specific social group or the general public. For example, an outbreak of a disease which threatens a large part of the population would be highly interesting and significant.
Magnitude: The extent to which the story is considered to be significant, ranging from the trivial (a man getting up and going to work on the bus) to the dramatic or life-changing (a murder trial or a war).
Generally speaking, only events that meet all five criteria are likely to make it into a newspaper or other media outlet. However, it is possible for an event to be considered newsworthy even if it did happen some time ago, for example if the details are only just becoming known or if the event has significant global implications.