How to Write a Good News Article
News articles inform and educate readers on current events/affecting people/things happening in their communities and the world. They are a vital part of the media and can be found in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. They can also be found online. News articles are usually written to be informative but can be entertaining and uplifting as well. They report on a range of topics from political unrest to celebrity gossip and even natural disasters.
A good news article starts with a lead that grabs the attention of the reader. It then moves onto background information that provides context for the story. This is followed by the main event, which could be a newsworthy fire, celebrity death, or sporting achievement. The article then finishes with a conclusion, which sums up the key points of the story and gives an idea of what to expect in the future.
While a traditional newspaper will have columns for different sections, online news is more fluid. Some online news articles are simply text, while others include pictures or video footage to add an extra dimension to the article. In either case, a news article should be proofread for accuracy and consistency. It is important to write the article with the reader in mind, which means using language that is understandable and avoiding excessively long sentences. It is also important to use third person pronouns, such as ‘he’ and’she’, rather than first person pronouns like ‘I’.
In most societies, what is newsworthy will vary from society to society. However, the classic definition of news is that it is unusual. For example, if a man wakes up and goes to work on the bus every day, that does not make the news. However, if the man suddenly falls off the bus, that will be newsworthy.
What a society finds interesting and worthy of being reported will also depend upon its resources and its ability to communicate. A rich society will find interest in stories about the lives of its famous people, for example.
Other things that are of interest in most societies include weather, food and drink, money, sex, art, religion and education. Stories about health and hospitals are of interest to many people, as are stories on diseases and treatments. Stories about agriculture, crops and harvests, and prices in the markets are of interest to many people too.
News is a very fast-moving area and it can be difficult to keep up with what is going on. Many people use news aggregators, such as Google News, which provide a selection of stories from various sources on one page. This way, they can keep up with global news without having to read every single newspaper or magazine.
While it may be easy to shut down a newspaper, radio or TV station, it is much more difficult to stop the spread of information through the Internet. As such, the Internet has become an important tool in disseminating news, especially during times of civil unrest.