News Sources and the News
News is the word we use to describe any type of information that informs and inspires action or reaction. In most cases, news is understood to mean objective reporting about current events. However, the word news has a much broader meaning, encompassing all types of reporting on the news.
The word news media generally refers to both the traditional mass media (newsprint television, radio, and magazines) and newer digital forms of media such as video and the internet. The printed media is mostly known for its broadsheet version. But newspapers have also evolved into a more highly technical medium, incorporating a greater amount of digital content in their pages.
Newsgathering and news analysis are the two major parts of the modern editorial page. The gathering of information and the evaluation of that information are the two central purposes of newspapers. They are different from features and reviews, which are more concerned with an individual feature of a product or a company. Features and reviews are more commercial in nature and tend to focus on an aspect of the product that is being discussed. While news coverage tends to be more informative in nature and is more subjective in nature, both kinds of content are necessary for a quality news media organization.
A major part of the modern editorial page today is the Internet. Many newspapers now offer web sites, which reaches a much broader audience than print media, through a variety of web-based tools. These websites include blogs, RSS feeds, local extensions, online newspapers (also called web logs or Weebly sites), and other interactive tools. Newspapers also frequently add new sections and articles to their news media outlets; these additions are called magazine inserts.
In addition to online news sources, many newspapers now offer audio and video news stories. Audio and video news stories are becoming increasingly common on the radio and on television news shows. The creation of news videos by some news media outlets has led to a marked increase in the amount of multimedia coverage that is distributed to the public. While online and radio news stories are increasing in popularity, news reports from traditional print media sources are still very popular. Many people still enjoy reading news articles in the original print format. The large amount of copy that still circulates in the U.S. adds to the value of news and entertainment content in a variety of newspapers.
There are a number of major newspapers that have long since gone out of business, including the New York Times, Chicago Daily News, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post Seahawks, etc. Many major newspapers have merged or sold to other media outlets, such as USA Today. Many smaller newspapers have been forced to try and survive by combining both print and digital news sources to provide a well rounded news source for all consumers. As the newspaper industry undergoes bankruptcy, mergers, and downsizing, it is clear that this industry will continue to innovate and experience new outlets and sources of news and information.