What Is News?

News is information about current events, which are often broadcast or published in newspapers, magazines, books and the Internet. It may be reported by a professional journalist or by amateurs such as bloggers. The quality of a news item is judged by its timeliness, importance and credibility. It is also assessed by its significance to a given audience, and its potential impact on society, politics or the economy.

Some scholars have attempted to study how news items are selected and interpreted by the media, and the ways they influence people’s opinions and attitudes. Studies of the content of news items can provide insights into the values and beliefs of a given culture, society or time. For example, in one culture it might be newsworthy that a bug is eating crops, while in another it might not be. In addition, some scholars have studied the way news items are framed by different media outlets, for instance examining how stories about Covid-19 appear in the US and UK press.

It is difficult to find a completely unbiased source of news, as journalists and editors have their own biases, but using a news aggregator site can help you get a better overview of the world by sampling multiple news sources in one place. Some of these sites also offer tips on spotting news bias and suggestions for finding alternative, more unbiased sources of information. For instance, a site such as Pocket collects articles from various sources online and displays them side by side so that you can compare different viewpoints on the same story.