How to Write Good News
News is information about current events and may be communicated through a variety of methods such as word-of-mouth, postal systems, printing, broadcasting, and electronic communication. The development of the mass media has enabled a wide distribution of news, and has affected how people perceive events. There are various models of how news is created and analyzed, such as the Professional Model and the Mirror Model.
The key to good news writing is knowing your audience. Most newspapers and websites are geared toward a specific demographic, which can sometimes be obvious based on location (e.g., a newspaper in Kansas City will most likely only cover local news). If you can figure out who you’re writing for, then you can focus on what matters to that particular audience.
In addition to being concise, a good news story should also be easy to read. Readers will quickly tune out if they’re reading a story with a lot of filler, or if it goes off on too many tangents. It’s also important to stay neutral – don’t put your opinion in the story.
A strong headline is also essential to news writing. It needs to be catchy, emotion evoking, or intriguing in order to get the reader’s attention. Then, the rest of the article should build upon that initial impression by providing additional details and facts. Most news articles are written bottom down, which means that the most important information is placed at the beginning of the story and the rest follows.