What is News Item Text?

News item is a text which informs readers about events of the day. The events are considered newsworthy or important. It means if there is an important event that should be known by many people.

News item is divided into two types, namely news item delivered orally and in writing. Of course, we often find written types in various printed media such as tabloids or daily newspapers. For oral news items, we often hear them from electronic media such as radio or television.

Generic Structure of News Item Text

As usual, each text will be formed with a different structure. What structure does news item text have?

1.Main event/Newsworthy events

The main event is a paragraph that contains a summary of an event, or we can say it is an important incident that is highlighted to be conveyed to the reader.

In this case, one thing that must be considered by the author is actuality. Are the events to be discussed up to date or "latest"? The reason is, the latest information will certainly have a higher value than old news.

Another element that can be taken into consideration for writing a main event is whether or not an event is important, and how much influence it has on readers.

2.Elaboration/Background Event

You still remember, right, what must be fulfilled in order for a text to be worthy of being said as news? Yep, the contents must include 5W + 1H (what, where, when, who, why) and how.

In short, this background event contains the background of the events that occurred. Starting from what and who was involved, where, when, why, and how the incident happened. This structure must be written in full so that readers can understand the entire text easily and the value of the news can be conveyed well.

3.Resource of Information (Source)

Have you ever read sentences that state testimony or expressions from other people in news texts? For example, the following news about the death of celebrity Didi Petet:

“He just arrived home on May 10 after attending the exhibition. In that city, he collapsed and lost consciousness and returned home in a wheelchair,” Raina said. 

So, the example sentence above is called source, which is the part that contains the opinions of experts or eyewitnesses. Apart from that, it can also be comments from various other parties involved.