News tells people about things that have happened. A news story answers six questions. They are who, what, when, where, why and how. A reporter asks them to find out what happened. A reporter is often given a subject to cover. That is called a beat. The reporter researches it and writes the story. The reporter listens to people and writes down what they say. Then an editor checks the story.

Reporters, editors and photographers work together in a newsroom. They make the news there. Editors choose which stories to run. So not every event becomes a news story. Long ago, there were no newspapers. A town crier rang a hand bell. He called out the news in the street. Many people could not read, so criers said it aloud.

The first newspaper printed in the American colonies came out in Boston in 1690. It was stopped after one issue. The Boston News-Letter began on April 24, 1704. It lasted for more than seventy years. The first message sent over Samuel Morse's telegraph line was sent on May 24, 1844. It went between Washington and Baltimore.

In 1920, a radio station in Pittsburgh called KDKA read election results on the air. People listened at home. For years, a network TV news show was only 15 minutes long each weeknight. It grew to 30 minutes on September 2, 1963. Weekly Reader was a classroom newspaper for kids. Its first issue came out in 1928.

Some news is uplifting. One example is children their age taking a stand on an issue. Some news is scary or upsetting. If news is scary, it is okay to turn it off and talk with a grown-up, who can help. Grown-ups can turn off the TV. Then the news is not playing all day.

Words to know

• reporter: news asker
• editor: story checker
• newsroom: news workplace
• beat: reporter's subject
• telegraph: wire messenger

The short version

News tells people about things that have happened. A reporter asks who, what, when, where, why and how to find out. An editor checks the story, and editors choose which stories to run. If news is scary or upsetting, it is okay to turn it off and talk with a grown-up, who can help.

Quick facts

• Reporters ask who, what, when, where, why and how to find out what happened.
• A reporter is often given a subject to cover, called a beat.
• Editors choose which stories to run, so not every event becomes a news story.
• A town crier rang a hand bell and called out the news in the street long ago.
• The first message sent over Samuel Morse's telegraph line was sent on May 24, 1844.