News is any new information or information on current events
which is presented by print, broadcast,
Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass
audience. The reporting and investigation of news falls within the profession of journalism.
News is often reported by a variety of sources, such as newspapers, television, and radio programs, wire services, and web sites. News reporting is a type of journalism, typically written or broadcast in news style. Most news is
investigated and presented by journalists and can be distributed to various outlets via
news agencies.
There are many categories of news. The weather is typically presented by a certified meteorologist or, on smaller stations, a less-trained "weatherman" and is considered news. Other news
categories are: sports, fashion, society, entertainment, business,
cartoon strips, features, lottery numbers, lives of
celebrities, advertising, and more. Until the 1970s, when
women's lib issues came to the forefront, most newspapers had a "Women's" section
devoted entirely to fashion and society news. Papers even printed "cheesecake" feature photos
of attractive young women in bikinis, often transmitted by the AP or UPI wire services, illustrating various news
events or feature ideas.
In its infancy, news gathering was primitive by today's standards. Printed news had to be phoned in to a newsroom or brought
there by a reporter where it was typed and either transmitted over wire services or
edited and manually set in type along with other news
stories for a specific edition. Today, the term "Breaking News" has become trite as broadcast and cable news services use live satellite technology to bring current
events into consumers' homes live as it happens. Events that used to take hours or days to
become common knowledge in towns or in nations are fed instantaneously to consumers via radio, television, cell phones, and the Internet.
Most large cities had[citation needed] morning and afternoon newspapers. As the media evolved and news outlets
increased to the point of near oversaturation, afternoon newspapers were shut down except for relatively few. Morning newspapers
have been gradually losing circulation, according to reports advanced by the papers themselves.[citation needed]
Commonly, news content should contain the "Five Ws" (who, what, when, where, why, and also
how) of an event. There should be no questions remaining. Newspapers normally write hard news stories, such as those pertaining
to murders, fires, wars, etc. in inverted pyramid style so the most important
information is at the beginning. Busy readers can read as little or as much as they desire. Local stations and networks with a
set format must take news stories and break them down into the most important aspects due to time constraints. Cable news
channels such as Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and
CNN, are able to take advantage of a story, sacrificing other, decidedly less important stories, and
giving as much detail about breaking news as possible.
Objectivity
News organizations are often expected to aim for objectivity; reporters claim to try to cover all sides of an issue without bias, as compared to
commentators or analysts, who provide opinion or personal point-of-view. However, several
governments impose certain constraints or police news organizations for bias. In the United Kingdom, for example, limits are set
by the government agency Ofcom, the Office of Communications. Both newspapers and broadcast news
programs in the United States are generally expected to remain neutral and avoid bias except for clearly indicated editorial
articles or segments. Many single-party governments have operated state-run news organizations, which may present the
government's views.
Even in those situations where objectivity is expected, it is difficult to achieve, and individual journalist may fall foul of
their own personal bias, or succumb to commercial or political pressure. Individuals and organizations who are the subject of
news reports may use news management techniques to try to make a favourable
impression.
Etymology
"News" developed as a special use of the plural form of "new" in the 14th century. In Middle English, the equivalent word was
'newes', based on the French 'nouvelles'.
It is not as is often claimed, an acronym for "north, east, west, south".
[1]
The Desire for News
The importance of news transcends the stories themselves. All cultures whether literate or not have a thirst for news.
Illiterate tribes are observed to spend much of their time and their practices swapping and receiving news on the state of other
tribes, the success of a hunt or the death of a member. Societies seem to revolve around news and the happenings of others daily
lives as a form of both entertainment and education. The news is more than a category of information or a form of entertainment;
it is an awareness of the happening of our society creating security. A study in 1945 conducted by Berelson during a journalist
strike found that we use the news as a sort of pragmatic information, for escapism, as a conversation starter and a sense of
security. We are now able to receive news instantly at a click of a button with the new technology of the Internet. As a result,
our Western society has become more globally aware and educated creating the opportunity and yearning for improvement.
Newsworthiness
Newsworthiness is defined as a subject having sufficient interest to the public or a special audience to warrant press
attention or coverage.
Normal people are not newsworthy unless they meet an unusual circumstance or tragedy. The news divides the population into two
groups; those few whose lives are newsworthy, and the multitude who are born, live out their lives and die without the news media
paying them any mind. The news has always covered subjects that catch people’s attention and differ from their 'ordinary lives'.
The news is often used for escapism and thus normal events are not newsworthy. Whether the subject is love, birth, weather or
crime, journalists' tastes inevitably run toward the unnatural, the extraordinary.
The subject and newsworthiness of a story depends on the audience as they decide what they do and don't have interest in. The
denser the population, the more global the news becomes, as there is a broader range of interests involved in its selection.
See also
References
Stephens, Mitchell. "The History of News - 3rd Ed" Oxford University Press, New York, 2007.zh-yue:新聞
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