Often referred to as the oxygen of democracy, the free press is a vital part of a healthy civil society. News is a form of knowledge, and journalists must inform readers with accurate, fair, and timely information. Journalists must be as transparent as possible about the source of information and methods of news gathering. They must be independent from outside influence. Journalism must be factual, concise, and picturesque. The news is the first rough draft of history.
News has become more prominent in the digital age, and audiences are selecting stories based on what they think will affect them. There is a need for a new form of news literacy. This is a form of knowledge that enables consumers to be empowered.
News can have positive and negative impacts on the public. It can influence people in a positive way, such as by educating them about government policies. It can also influence them in a negative way, such as by preaching nationalism or by promoting communalism. People take an interest in news stories about a confrontation between different groups, such as nations.
In addition, news can also help people in many other ways. For instance, weather forecasts can inform people about the weather and train timings can be of interest to the public.
Many journalists consider news as the first draft of history, and journalists have developed their own subjective definition of news. A news story is defined by the context, time, and other factors. Generally, there is an element of surprise in a news story. This element of surprise can come in the form of an interesting headline, or an interesting or humorous treatment of the subject matter. In the digital age, there are more opportunities for news stories to be distributed through social media. It is thought that the sharing of stories can increase interaction between readers.
News values have been studied by a variety of scholars. The Political Model, for instance, outlines that news is a representation of various political pressures on people. The Mirror Model, on the other hand, outlines that news should reflect the reality of the story. Some media critics argue that the media delivers news based on market research. However, the truth is that news is only valid until it is read.
Researchers also studied how audiences reacted to news stories. In addition, the study used the revised list of news values developed by Galtung and Ruge (1965). The study found that the most valuable news value was celebrity, followed by magnitude, entertainment, and exclusivity. Moreover, the highest form of conflict is war. This is because people take an interest in stories about confrontation between groups, and news about war is important because it affects everyone.
News values were studied in relation to published outputs, which were used to test scholarly explanations. This was done in conjunction with a recent literature that contextualized the findings of a fresh content analysis of news values.