news story
B1Neutral to formal; common in media, academic, and everyday contexts when discussing current affairs.
Definition
Meaning
A factual report about a recent event or situation, typically presented in journalism.
A narrative account of events, whether current or historical, that follows journalistic conventions and aims to inform an audience; can also refer to the particular angle or framing of an event by a news outlet.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Implies a structured narrative with elements like a lead, facts, sources, and context. While often synonymous with 'news report' or 'news article', it can subtly emphasize the narrative quality over the purely factual dispatch.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal. 'News story' is standard in both. 'News item' or simply 'story' might be slightly more common in US broadcast contexts.
Connotations
Identical; both imply a journalistic product.
Frequency
Equally frequent in both varieties.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
The journalist wrote a news story about the election.A news story emerged detailing the findings.The news story on the merger was widely circulated.Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “That's an old news story.”
- “It's the same news story with a different headline.”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to media coverage affecting a company's reputation or share price (e.g., 'The negative news story impacted our quarterly results.').
Academic
Used in media studies to analyse narrative structure, bias, or framing (e.g., 'The paper deconstructs the news story's use of sources.').
Everyday
Common in general conversation about current events (e.g., 'Did you see the news story about the storm?' ).
Technical
In journalism, refers to a specific product following genre conventions, with elements like the 'inverted pyramid' structure.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The paper will news-story the event tomorrow.
- They are news-storying the developments live.
American English
- The network decided to news-story the scandal extensively.
- She news-storied her way through the campaign trail.
adverb
British English
- The report was written very news-story.
- He described it news-storily.
American English
- The segment was presented news-story style.
- They covered it pretty news-story.
adjective
British English
- It was a very news-story moment.
- He has a news-story approach to his blog.
American English
- The coverage had a news-story feel to it.
- She's in a news-story role at the agency.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- I read a news story.
- It was a good news story.
- The news story was on TV.
- The main news story today is about the weather.
- She wrote a news story for the school newspaper.
- Did you follow the news story about the new park?
- The journalist broke the news story after months of investigation.
- This news story highlights a significant social issue.
- The developing news story kept changing throughout the day.
- The paper's lead news story offered a nuanced critique of government policy.
- Her analysis deconstructed the news story's underlying ideological assumptions.
- The news story, while factually accurate, employed a sensationalist narrative frame.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
NEWS (North, East, West, South – information from all directions) + STORY (a narrative) = a narrative built from recent information.
Conceptual Metaphor
NEWS IS A COMMODITY/PRODUCT (to break, to run, to cover a story); NEWS IS A JOURNEY (a developing story, to follow a story).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct calque 'новостная история'. Use 'новость', 'репортаж', or 'информационное сообщение' depending on context.
- Do not confuse with 'story' meaning 'floor/level of a building' (этаж).
Common Mistakes
- Using 'news' uncountably when 'story' is countable: 'I heard a news' (incorrect) vs. 'I heard a news story' (correct).
- Confusing 'news story' (factual) with 'short story' (fictional).
Practice
Quiz
Which phrase is a common collocation with 'news story'?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Primarily yes, but it can refer to a past event that is being reported on as news (e.g., a newly discovered historical fact).
All news stories are articles, but not all articles are news stories. An 'article' can be opinion, review, or feature, while a 'news story' implies a factual report on a recent event.
Yes, it's common for both print/online journalism and broadcast segments (TV, radio) that report on an event.
No, 'news' is an uncountable noun. You need a countable word like 'story', 'item', or 'report' (e.g., 'a piece of news', 'a news story').
Explore