1. Providing Information
News provides information about important events that affect people. It enables them to make informed decisions. News also helps them understand complex issues by offering analysis and interpretation. It serves as a watchdog, exposing corruption and other unethical behavior by holding those in power accountable. News also entertains and provides leisure activities by covering sports, entertainment, and lifestyle topics.
2. Presenting People and Places
A story about people and places makes good news. This is because most people are interested in what other people are doing and thinking. News about people often concerns events that affect them directly, such as natural disasters, wars and terrorist attacks, or the weather. It also includes their achievements, such as awards and honors. People and places that have significance to them, such as family, work, or hobbies, are also newsworthy.
3. Identifying Issues
While “dog bites man” is not newsworthy, there are some events that are always newsworthy: for example, an unusual phenomenon in the weather; food shortages or gluts; changes in the prices of commodities like fuel and electricity; and so on. Some events, however, have different levels of interest in different societies. For instance, the fact that a farm wall collapsed killing a cow and a pig is more significant in a society that raises and eats pigs than in one where the pigs are eaten by the peasants.
To write a good news article, start by asking yourself the “5 W’s”: who, what, when, where, and why. This will help you find a story that is important to your audience. Then, draft a snappy headline that concisely informs readers about the news topic and seizes their attention. Finally, use the inverted pyramid structure to organize the news article into paragraphs of increasing importance.