News is information about current events. It can be transmitted in many formats, including word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting and electronic communication.
News may be current or historical, and it can be entertaining or boring. News is usually factual and should be presented in a fair and objective manner. However, it is often subjective because of the biases and prejudices of reporters, editors and readers.
Students should read about the role of the editor and how a news article is put together. They should then try to identify how a particular news story was edited, such as by changing the title or by adding or deleting information. Students can then compare this to a different news story that was not edited and discuss how the final product differed.
Explain that one way to evaluate a news story is to look for the five elements of news value: new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people. The news value of an event can vary from society to society, though: for example, the death of a pig might be significant in one place but not in another where cows are more common.
Explain to students that the goal of writing a news article is to inform and seize readers’ interest. To help them achieve this, they should use a pyramid format for their news articles. The key facts should go at the top of the pyramid, with supporting information following.