In general, news refers to the actual data that tells about what has happened, where and how something occurred. In reporting, news usually is a journalist’s basic description of what he already knows regarding a particular story, such as background information and facts not stated in the main story, other relevant facts not mentioned in the main story and other details pertinent to the main story. In news, we can speak of breaking news, local news, international news, just to name a few.
News are very significant to modern man, who cannot live without news. Without news, people would soon become too busy for paying attention to everything. A day passes by without any news at all, and this causes chaos and confusion to the people. News tell the current condition of the society at a given time. And thus, news influence and shape public opinion.
In addition, the media nowadays greatly influences the mass culture in general. People are always being exposed to news through TV, radio and newspapers, so they are also constantly being influenced by the news. The mass media are very convenient and cheap, so people are more influenced by them than ever before. They can easily read news on their mobile phones or portable devices, so they do have daily news on hand, wherever they go.