News and How it affects America
News reports are the way to disseminate information to the public. Examples of news which can be both negative or positive include breaking news, political campaign events, traffic alerts, and real-time news of major developments, which are usually declared true moments before the news bites into the news. News reports provide a window to the world through which the public is allowed to participate in the reporting of the event. It is through this media that people learn about natural disasters, conflicts, accidents, arrests, and more. The major objective of all news media is to inform, not only the audience, but also the readers and the public on current affairs.
A news report can be either a serious or a simple news item. In other words, it can be hard news or good news. A serious report is often accompanied by breaking news photographs and graphic images which make the reader immediately take note and thus provide the information to be disseminated. This style of reporting is often characterized by a very fast pace. A good news article often contains factual data, but does not require extensive reporting and thus easily digestible.
American news media can be divided into two major types: local news and international news. While local news features stories that are relevant to the location where they were published, such as local weather or local sports, international news features stories that are more global in nature and often are distributed internationally. The two styles of news have different purposes. For example, a piece on International Terrorist activity would most likely be focused on breaking the story and disseminating information to the public quickly. On the other hand, a piece on an American teenager who was arrested for trying to fly to Syria to fight with the Islamic State would most likely be more concerned with getting the story out to the public and disseminating the facts as soon as possible. While both styles of newsworthy events may be important to a degree, there are distinct differences between the two.
As a former student of journalism, I can tell you that both styles of news reporting are important. However, I also notice that many in the media will focus on one type of journalism and do not pay enough attention to other styles. The result is that journalists often have a sense of what is good or bad for society when making a reporting choice. This is not the purpose of the press. The purpose of the press is to inform the people of issues, ideas, concerns and the like, not to pass judgment on individuals and actions.
In order to accomplish this mission, newsrooms need to publish both hard and soft news. Although the term “hard” often gets used to describe articles that are unfavorable to a person, “soft” is used to describe those stories that are helpful to society. Many people believe that the purpose of the media is to simply pass judgment on everything. However, that is not how the newsrooms see things. They understand that people have different points of view and often disagree on matters of public concern. Therefore, both hard and soft news are needed to report conflicting but useful information.
Unfortunately, today the news is more cut and dried than it was in the past. In order to get around this problem, the newsroom has developed the now infamous buzz words. These words are used to describe a story without actually saying it. For instance, when the New York Times decides to run a piece on new government programs, they will state “The Administration Has Launched a Number of New Programs” without actually stating “New Government Programs”. This strategy allows the paper to present both hard and soft news at the same time. In the end, the reader benefits because both sides are shown in the same light, without being criticized for their opinion.