The Role of the News in Keeping People Well informed
In ancient times, the people relied on the news from temples and official sources at hand. The information they received would not be known by anyone else until it reached the eye of the person watching the news. The news has developed vastly since that time. It now has the ability to reach millions of people through the Internet. It has also allowed people to express their opinions about the events happening around the world.
Examples of newsworthy items that are distributed throughout the world are: crime, weather, sports, environmental issues, political issues, education, business and religious news. The news is categorized according to its importance. General news, which represents all news that is deemed non-essential to the public, is run on networks and channels controlled by major media companies. Examples of non-newsworthy stories include: feature stories on local celebrities, weather forecasts, recipes and news tips. In other words, anything that is not newsworthy is placed in the category of non-news.
The news must meet six values before it becomes newsworthy. These are: accuracy, timeliness, credibility, freedom, fairness and objectivity. It should be noted that the purpose of the news is to inform and not to entertain. Therefore, a news article that fails to meet any of the six values in a timely, meaningful and clear manner is no longer newsworthy.
A news agency should have correspondents who is qualified to become a news anchor. They can either be members of the news agency staff or freelancers contracted out by the press association. The correspondents in major news agencies are usually the bureau’s senior reporters. The news service is provided by numerous small newspapers all over the country.
The other way that the news is disseminated is through the distribution of periodicals in print form. The most popular of these publications are the broadsheet and broadside papers. These publications are generally available for free or at a very low rate. However, they are not easily available and are not circulated to households. They are supplied by news agencies, including news agencies of major newspapers.
In addition to distributing printed publications, news agencies also distribute news wire services. Newswire services are electronically delivered to selected news agencies or directly to the subscribers. News agencies also provide audio clips on their websites. Other sources of news include radio, television and the Internet.