News tells people about things that have happened. A story you read or hear did not appear by magic. People went out, asked questions and wrote it down. Here is where news stories come from.

Reporters ask questions to find out what happened: who, what, when, where, why and how.

A reporter is often given a subject to cover, called a beat. Then the reporter researches it and writes the story. A reporter listens to people and writes down what they say.

A newsroom is a place where reporters, editors and photographers work together to make news. After a reporter writes a story, an editor checks it.

Editors choose which stories to run, so not every event becomes a news story. Many things happen each day. Only some of them are printed or broadcast.

You may have heard that if it is on the news, it must be true. In fact, good news reporters try to check each fact. They use more than one original source when they can. A news organization that finds a mistake should say so and fix it.

Not everything that looks like news is a news story. A news story gives facts and context. An opinion piece argues for a point of view. They are different jobs. Sponsored content is paid for by an advertiser but made to look like the publisher's own stories, so it should have a clear label.

News has been told in many ways. Long ago, before newspapers, a town crier rang a bell and called out the news in the street. Town criers announced news aloud because many people could not read. The first newspaper printed in the American colonies came out in Boston in 1690. It was stopped after one issue.

Studies of how people read the news find that, on average, people pay more attention to negative news than to positive news. Some news is uplifting, such as children their age taking a stand on an issue.

Hearing scary or sad news again and again, or seeing strong pictures of it, can upset children. If news is scary or upsetting, it is okay to turn it off and talk with a grown-up, who can help. Next time you meet a news story, ask the six questions: who, what, when, where, why and how.

Words to know

• reporter: story finders
• editor: checks stories
• beat: reporter's topic
• newsroom: news workplace
• sponsored: paid by advertisers