News is an important part of everyday life. Examples of news media: television news and radio news. These are collectively known as the four horses of the news horse: television news, radio news, newspaper news and Internet news (i.e. blogging). All four form the basis of informing the general public about what is going on in the world around them and what their elected leaders are doing. While all four provide the general public with vital information, each one offers a slightly different take on what the news represents.
Television news sources tend to offer reports of breaking news stories. The most watched network news programs, such as CNN and Fox News, often focus on breaking news stories, including the recent hurricanes or other natural disasters. In some cases, network news sources will run a special reportorial on a specific topic that is breaking, which includes some information from local newspapers. Most newspapers, however, do not publish news stories at this time.
Radio news stories are most commonly available on the local radio stations and are more likely to make news at any time. Two examples of these are WIIFM (Watts Up With Johnnie) and KPHT (KPHT News). They tend to provide more interesting details, and oftentimes have unique stories, than television news sources would. Some people enjoy listening to these types of radio programs while others see them simply as background noise. For instance, some people may tune into a strange monotone voice on KPHT for entertainment purposes, but would never hear the same monotone voice discussing the same topic on a different station.
Print journalism is a type of journalism that emphasizes the reporting of important stories. Many newspapers are focused on creating interesting articles that tell the story from various perspectives. As newspapers are primarily a business publication, they are not focused on producing a story simply to fill space or to have more readership. In contrast, many magazines focus on a wide variety of topics and provide both serious and humorous reporting, often focusing on unusual topics that make the newspaper interesting from a scientific perspective or from a human interest perspective.
Online news media includes internet blogs, podcasts and social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. These types of sites generate large amounts of traffic to the websites, as well as making it easier for the news media outlets to reach their target readership. This traffic can lead to higher revenues for both papers and publications, especially with the rising costs associated with advertising. Because the audience is global, it is also much cheaper to broadcast news online than to publish it in newspapers or magazines in the United States.
The reporting of human activity makes news because the activity generates a story that is unique and interesting to someone who is searching for that type of news. Most newspapers only publish stories that have some degree of human interest; however, it has become more difficult to locate news of unusual events and more difficult to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction. In addition, it is easier for people to manipulate sources of information, such as social media sites, to spread false news about themselves. By reading a news report, it becomes more difficult for the reader to discern between legitimate reporting done merely to make the author look good or to spread a panic or false alarm. In this case, human action makes news, and the impact of that human action on the news media outlets that report it is very real.