News is information about a current event that affects people or places. It can be broadcast on television, printed in newspapers or yelled across the classroom. It can be about local government decisions that impact how you live or global events that change the world. News can also be entertainment like a celebrity scandal or an amusing video or crossword puzzle. It can be a story about your brother’s new job or a school play or about a natural disaster.

Whether or not something is news depends on a wide variety of factors including how important, exciting or interesting the event is, its impact and its magnitude. Events that happen every day and are not unusual do not make the news. For example, if a man wakes up, eats breakfast and takes the bus to work this is not newsworthy. However, if a coup d’etat happens in a neighboring country this is very much newsworthy.

The main purpose of news is to inform and educate. While it can entertain – like music and drama on TV, cartoons in newspapers or crossword puzzles – this is not its primary function. Rather, it is a way of letting the public know what is happening in the world around them so that they can decide how best to react to those events.

To be informative and engaging news must contain all the relevant facts. This means that the story should include: what happened, where it occurred and who was involved. The article should also explain how the event was significant and why it is newsworthy. Journalists use market research to help them determine what the public demands in terms of news coverage but they still have the ability to dictate what makes a newsworthy story and which facts to emphasize.