News

3640
Alexander Pearson
An example of a recent news item

What is news?

The news is a journalistic text that can be written, auditory or audiovisual, which is based on an objective narration of a current event, of public interest and novelty. The professional who compiles the news and writes the journalistic notes is the journalist or social communicator.

One of the most notable features of the news is that it must be transmitted as objectively as possible, without involving the opinions of the journalist or subjective features. An example could be: “Three injured after colliding two cars on Avenida de los Insurgentes, in Mexico City, were taken to the nearest hospital. So far there are no fatalities ".

The journalist (s) are in charge of searching for the information, either by interviewing the eyewitnesses or by being present at the scene of the incident..

Characteristics of a news

The news is written by journalists and can be published in physical or virtual format

In general, the news has the following characteristics:

Objective and impersonal character

The journalist's opinions cannot be expressed on the news, whether or not he agrees with what is happening. The text should never be written in the first person (I, we).

Narrative form

The news is told, so the form it takes must be narrative.

Topic of interest and current

The news, to be news, must address issues of public interest and be recent in time, current. Something that happened a year ago is not strictly considered news, unless there is something relevant at the time of publication.

Close language

The news text must be written in non-specialized, informative language, so that anyone can understand what they read.

Inverted pyramid

The information must be hierarchical. The usual structure of the news is the inverted pyramid, where the most important information is in the first paragraphs, and the least important towards the end.

Veracity

The news must be real facts, supported by verifiable sources that support the information provided. This is one of the most important characteristics of a news item, as it is what gives credibility to both the journalist and the medium that broadcasts it..

Different supports

The news can be presented orally, written, auditory or audiovisual, depending on the media (radio, TV, newspaper or newspaper, internet).

Structure of a news item: its parts

Main parts of the news. Click on the image to enlarge

A news item is generally structured in four parts: headline, lead, body and closing.

Headline

The headline is a set of elements that includes the pretitle, the title and the subtitle. It's the hook for readers to stay. The headline must summarize the news, so it must be short, precise and concise.

  • Pretitle: constitutes an antecedent that makes it possible to understand the news.
  • Qualification: is the most important part of the news. Fits in a larger font size.
  • Subtitle: it is an extension of what is advanced in the headline, giving some additional details.

Entradilla (or lead)

It is a first paragraph where the information is concentrated, your most relevant and important data.

The body

The body is the development of information, which advances in reading. Here the information is structured from highest to lowest importance, where the inverted pyramid is applied.

The news must be written from the most specific to the most general. To do this, the first paragraph of the body must answer 5 fundamental questions (5 W, in English), which every journalist must meet:

  • What happened?
  • To who?
  • Where did it happen?
  • When?
  • Why?

There are other theorists who include the "How?", But generally in the rest of the news this last question is answered, also providing other data of less importance, but that can expand on what was previously stated..

To mark the context, it is common for the journalist to include references to other related news or previous events.

Closing

It is the conclusion, secondary ideas can be added to expand the information that is given to the reader.

Types of news

They can be classified into two large groups: by their theme and by the treatment of the subject.

By the theme

  • Policies: they are those related to national and international politics, and all the events related to it: the events that happen in governments, the political parties that intervene, etc..
  • Sports: they are the news that narrate important events in the world of sports, and can be about football, basketball, baseball, horse racing, tennis, swimming, etc., as well as national and international sports events, such as the World Cup Football, the Eurocup, the Copa Libertadores, the Olympics, the Major Leagues, the Caribbean Series, the Wimbledon Championship, etc..
  • Cultural: they are related to the events that occurred in the artistic field, be it literature, plastic arts, music, cinema and photography, architecture and any manifestation that is considered artistic.
  • Economical: are those related to finances, the means of production, money and work.
  • Social and entertainment: they are those that have to do with certain events that are important in the communities, and those of entertainment are related to the world of entertainment, fashion, pop culture, or movie and television stars.
  • Scientific: they refer to topics that are interested in science and technology.
  • Police: also called police chronicles, they expose facts related to crime, detective and police investigations.

For the treatment of the subject

  • Present: are the news whose relevance is immediate and daily.
  • Of future: are the news that announce events or events that will occur in a relatively near future.
  • Ephemeris: is the news that occurred in the past, but is commemorated in the present. The headline "Such a day as today ..." is typical..
  • Public service: it is the relevant news for the public, such as government initiatives for social assistance, information on student scholarships, etc..
  • Complementary: they are the least relevant news, but that can complement the main stories.

News Examples

Below we place the relevant news headlines from the last two years.

  1. “Alfonso Durazo affirms that the order to capture El Chapo's son continues.

The Secretary of Public Security and Citizen Protection, Alfonso Durazo, assured this Friday morning that the work to arrest Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Loera, continues "(The reason, Mexico, 01-11-2019).

  1. "The coronavirus surpasses the SARS cases of 2003.

The number of infections now rises to 5,469 ”(Medical Gazette, Spain, 24-01-2020).

  1. "George Floyd's death sparks protests against racism and police violence.

The death of George Floyd at the hands of the North American police has unleashed massive protests both in the United States and in the rest of the world in the midst of a pandemic ”(seen in The vanguard, Spain, 08-06-2020).

  1. "Nine people arrested for the beheading of the French professor who showed Muhammad" (seen on the news portal france24.com, France, 10-17-2020).
  2. “After a violent day in Washington, Congress certified Joe Biden as president of the United States.

The joint session of both chambers confirmed that the Democrat and the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, surpassed the barrier of 270 electoral votes that gives the keys to the White House, with a total of 306, and therefore they will come to power next 20 January ”(seen on the news portal infobae.com, Argentina, 01-07-2021).

  1. "The storm Filomena as it passed through Spain, in images.

Since Thursday and throughout the weekend, the Peninsula suffers a formidable storm of snow, rain, wind, rough seas and low temperatures ”(seen in The country, Spain, 09-01-2021).

  1. "Assault on the Capitol: 'One of the big problems is the idea that the United States is an exceptional country'.

A Capitol heavily fenced and guarded by the National Guard in the final days of Donald Trump's presidency ”(seen at https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-55583766), news portal BBC, United Kingdom, 12-01-2021.

  1. "National Vaccination Plan

There are more than 3 million requests to vaccinate older adults.

The goal is to register 14,460,754 requests for the Covid-19 vaccine for older adults ”(seen in The reason, Mexico, 06-02-2021).


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