News outlets provide a variety of ways to share noteworthy information with the public. Some of these include television, radio and newspapers. Others include online news websites, blogs and magazines. Writing for a news outlet requires precision and clarity, getting directly to the point, finding data that supports your claims, telling stories, using quotes liberally and avoiding jargon. While there are many rules to follow, journalists often break them when it serves the greater purpose of delivering news that is interesting, compelling and accessible.
The lead of a news article should clearly state the topic and explain why it is newsworthy. The lead is similar to a thesis statement in an essay. After the lead, the article should include all of the main facts about the event. This should include where it happened, when, who was involved and why it is important. The article should also include any quotes from people directly involved in the story, and they must be attributed.
The final section of a news article is usually a summary of the major points from the article and a list of potential future developments that may relate to the topic. Some news articles will contain the opinion of the reporter, but this should be noted in the article as a separate piece called an editorial or column. All opinions should be unbiased to allow readers to make their own informed decisions based on the facts presented in the article.