News is the information that people need in order to make sense of their world. It includes everything from cyclones and droughts to wars and murders. But most of the time, news is about people: what they do, what they say and how they look. People make news when they act in a way that goes against society’s generally accepted standards. This is especially true of celebrities, criminals and public figures. It’s also true of money, with fortunes made and lost making the headlines, as well as stories about school fees, taxes, the Budget and food prices. People also like stories about sex, although these are often kept out of the news because they don’t fit with a society’s generally accepted standards of behaviour.
Whatever kind of news you are writing, remember that the goal is to inform your readers, listeners or viewers, not to entertain them. Entertainment should come from other sources – music and drama programs on radio, cartoons in newspapers or crossword puzzles. But that doesn’t mean that your news articles should be boring. If a story has an element of humour, try to treat it in a light-hearted way and use witty headlines.
As for the rest of your article, keep it short and to the point. Readers want to get their information quickly, and if you can grab their attention in the first few lines of your article, they are more likely to read on. This is why all the top news stories in a newspaper are placed above the fold, or at the top of your page online, before you have to scroll down.