There is no RationalWiki without you. We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We cannot rely on big donors with corresponding big agendas. We are not the largest website around, but we believe we play an important role in defending truth and objectivity. |
Fighting pseudoscience isn't free. We are 100% user-supported! Help and donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can today with ![]() ![]() |
News
You gotta spin it to win it Media |
![]() |
Stop the presses! |
We want pictures of Spider-Man! |
Extra! Extra! |
News is the reporting of events. It should contain at answer the six W's, the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" of an event. Some modern news tends to add a seventh: "Wow" or "Whoa," in the form of fancy graphics, dramatic music, etc. Although most people disseminating news will claim to be unbiased, it is inevitable that opinion is involved, often as a genuine opinion piece or thinly veiled and disguised as a fact. This begins at the very selection of "what is news?" and extends to the wording used in the presentation.
The traveling minstrels of the Middle Ages provided news leavened by entertainment and the current media continue the mixture. Broadcast news shows often have a jocular "endpiece" about an amusing incident to leave the viewer/auditor with a feeling of comfort. Similarly, print news is interspersed with cartoons and trivia.
One thing news isn't is what is broadcast by Fox News.