As we browse through the news each day, some of us may wonder exactly why we call it that.
In fact, lots of us are today, as Google indicates that loads of people are searching for why news is called news.
The answer is fairly simple, as the clue is in the name.
It all started in the 14th century, when the English word ‘news’ developed as a special use of the plural form of ‘new’.
As the name implies, ‘news’ is associated with the presentation of new information.
Because it is, by nature, new, this gives it a quality of uncertainness, compared to careful investigation carried out within historical or other academic disciplines.
News has to describe the world in the present or immediate past – and if it refers to an event that took place long ago, there must be something that anchors it to present day and makes it immediately relevant.
The meaning of the word has become increasingly potent as online publications began publishing news articles online.
Back in 1980, the CompuServe dial-up service began working with Associated Press newspapers, and the first online newspaper was The Columbus Dispatch, which was set live on July 1.
The Washington Post, The New York Times and a dozen others followed soon afterwards.
Over the years, the meaning of the word news has been questioned, with Mitchell Orval incorrectly saying that ‘news’ was actually an acronym for Notable Events, Weather and Sports.
Others have said it is an acronym for North, East, West, South – this is also untrue.
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