The news is the current events and information that affects people. It is reported and disseminated through newspapers, radio and television. It also can be found on the Internet and in magazines. News is important to all societies because it keeps people informed about what is happening in the world around them and helps them make decisions. It is especially important to developing countries because it gives them a sense of what is going on in the rest of the world.
People are interested in all sorts of things in the news. These include – famous people, their lives, their activities and what they look like; health, including traditional medicine and medical research; wars and military action; food (including famine); and sex (although many societies do not openly talk about it). People are also interested in stories that show how others behave and in the difference between good and bad behaviour. These are known as morality or societal stories.
The news that makes it into a newspaper, onto the TV news, or on a web site is decided by people who work for the news organization – the editors, news directors, or even the news managers. These people sift through the suggestions of reporters, assistant editors, and other people in the organization to decide what will be considered newsworthy. They are also called gatekeepers, because they control what information reaches the public. Each medium presents the news in a slightly different way, so audiences get a bit of a different perspective or sense of what is happening on the basis of where they get their news from.