News is a means of conveying current and interesting information to the public. It has a social value as it gives the public an opportunity to form opinions on issues, and it also serves as a tool to promote political and economic policies. News is often categorized by its source, which can be a local or international organization or individual. It can also be classified by its content, which could include the weather, music or sports.
The way in which a society judges whether something is newsworthy depends on the importance of its components, and on how these are interlinked. If a barn collapses, killing a cow and a pig, this may be of more interest to society than if a car kills a child.
While some things are always newsworthy, the majority of events are not. Even the most mundane or routine aspects of daily life are not necessarily newsworthy. For example, a man going to work on the bus does not make the news, unless it is unusual.
The decision of what is newsworthy can be subjective, and this is particularly true in times of crisis or conflict. A news item must be sufficiently interesting and important to attract attention, but it must also be accurate and not infringe upon any rights. In addition, it must be presented in a fair and impartial manner. This makes judging what is and is not newsworthy a very difficult task for journalists, and it is why some events are deemed to be more newsworthy than others.