News is current information about events that affect or interest people. It’s often reported on radio, television or the Internet, but it can also be published in newspapers and magazines. News presents events that have happened as soon as they happen to a wide audience, usually in an objective and impartial manner. In order to be newsworthy, an event must be unusual, interesting, significant or of public interest.
The amount of news that is available can be overwhelming. In the age of 24-hour news stations, people are exposed to more than five times as much information as they were in 1986. With so many choices, it can be hard to determine which stories are important and what information is worth looking up further.
It’s the job of journalists to inform and educate readers, listeners or viewers about newsworthy events. While entertaining is not the responsibility of the news media, it can help to inform and amuse audiences with music and drama on television or radio; cartoons and crosswords in newspapers; and exhibits at museums and galleries.
What makes something newsworthy depends on a number of factors, including its impact on people’s daily lives, its proximity to home or work, its prominence (such as being about a well-known person) and whether it provokes an emotional response. It’s also important to note that things may be newsworthy in one country but not another. The death of Mao Tse-tung, for example, was a big story in China but not in the United States.
