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How to Write a News Article: The Future of News?

Basic guidelines for creating news articles in print, photos, and video.

The Future of News?

Debate rages about the future of news. See this article from Harvard's Neiman Journalism Lab on what really happened to the news business.

Newspaper readership has been in steady decline while economic pressures have forced the closing of old, established papers. TV news has been critiqued for being lightweight and irrelevant, while the internet presents whole new challenges in credibility. However, these changes also bring exciting new opportunities as "news" and the need to know finds new outlets.

Some new trends include:

Virtual Reality or Immersion Journalism: Using virtual reality and 3D environments to convey the sights, sounds and feelings of the news

Database Journalism: journalism where numerical data is key to the production and distribution of information

Some pioneering examples:

Full Spectrum Storytelling: Simultaneous audio, video, and text presentation of a story, from multiple points of view, with incorporated interactivity and extensive source data all in the same space that a single article used to occupy.

Some pioneering examples:

Mobile reporting: Not everyone owns a smartphone or tablet yet, but the numbers are growing and one of the main uses is for news.

2-way communication: The news is no longer just the reporter telling the story, but reader asking questions and sharing experiences too.

Strictly online papers & magazines: A few magazines have successfully made the transition from paper to just paying websites.