Unfortunately, news is always bad, especially on the Web. Even when it is good news, like breaking news a whole lot faster than the last day. The bad news, however, is that AIDS is rapidly spreading around the globe at an alarming rate. The bad news, of course, is that many people who contract HIV don’t take their medications as prescribed.
So why does this make news? Well, breaking news stories get front-page news coverage, and this makes newsworthy. The reporters are willing to risk their careers’ (as well as the lives of their loved ones) for a scoop, and the media outlets are eager to accommodate them. It’s kind of a high reward, or low risk, to be willing to publish such news. Especially given that there is no proof that HIV is inherently dangerous, many people still insist on this premise despite all evidence to the contrary. Because of this high need, many people are looking for sources of HIV/AIDS news online – sources that might actually show negative news about the disease.
These online sources could be blogs, which cover a variety of topics but usually are focused on a single issue. Another would be websites like CNN, MSN, and others, which are often devoted to covering the human interest angle of various topics. There are also news sites like Fox News, who typically focus on stories that are newsworthy, but aren’t necessarily about current events (i.e., the recent election). They’ll report anything that interests them (e.g., a newscast), but they are not reporting “news”. The term “breaking news” has been used frequently recently in reference to various media, but it’s a somewhat misleading term, since news stories can still be considered news, even if there may be elements of original news in them.
Still, many listeners and readers assume that local news broadcasts are the only source of news about their area. Unfortunately, there are a number of other sources for up-to-date information. For example, many local radio stations will update their audiences about upcoming events, and they may also provide some information on what is happening at that moment in time, as well as local news stories. Additionally, many television viewers will likely know nothing about a local story, unless they have watched it or read about it in the newspaper or magazines.
A third kind of online news story that some listeners and readers are likely to ignore is personal impact news. This type of news item covers topics that make some readers feel uncomfortable – things that could possibly happen to them or someone they know. News items in this category include anything remotely related to religion, sex, crime, and race. Some religious organizations have tried to tackle controversial topics in the public eye in the past, but the general public has grown weary with these types of stories, as it makes some readers feel as if the news item is trying to dictate how they should behave or what they should believe.
Although some news items may impact each individual reader and each reader’s opinion of a story, all news items have a broader range of readership, as well as a wider range of possible outcomes. In fact, the type of news you hear and see can have a major impact on your own life and the lives of those around you. Regardless of whether your news reflects current affairs or is from another time or place in history, you and your family are likely to react to it in different ways. Personal impact news makes every day situations more unique and memorable.