THE VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF NEWS
Waking up to a cup of tea and a newspaper has been an old and traditional way of consuming news. However, with today’s fast paced life, the consumption of news has gained some speed as well, with the digital platforms being available to us at all times. In the modern world, news is ubiquitous, however, one finds it difficult to define this term, in any one way. This is due to the fact that the meaning and scope of news has evolved over time and varies according to a number of reasons.
Some claim it to be an acronym for the four cardinal directions ( North, East, West and South), others claim it to be ‘Notable Events, Weather and Sports’ . But there has been no proof of these acronyms being used officially. Most dictionaries impart the meaning of ‘news’ as “an account of a significant and recent event that affects the audience and is of interest to them.”
This multifaceted term has been defined in numerous ways. Some of them are as follows:
DEFINITION 1: NEWS AS A MEDIUM
“News is a medium through which individuals and societies create, maintain, and share a sense of public knowledge and common understanding.”
(Zelizer & Allan, 2011)
DEFINITION 2: NEWS AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT
“News is a social construction that provides a mediated reality of events and issues that are selected, framed, and presented by news media professionals.”
(McQuail, 2010)
DEFINITION 3: NEWS AS A MODE OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION
“News is a mode of public communication that represents a specific, observable form of discourse about the world.”
(Schudson, 2011)
DEFINITION 4: NEWS AS A SUBJECT OF (GREATER) INTEREST
“News is anything timely that interests a number of persons, and the best news is that which has the greatest interest for the greatest number.”
(Willard G. Bleyer, 1932)
DEFINITION 5: NEWS AS A PROCESS OF INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
“News is a process of selecting, processing, and disseminating information about events, issues, and people that are considered newsworthy by journalists.”
(Zelizer, 1993)
The definitions given above give a broad outline about the concept of news but cannot be regarded as comprehensive or extensive as the concept of news evolves and changes with changing times and evolving societies. News is a relative concept. When the factors affecting news change, then the concept of news also changes.
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