News
Events we select and report. Some manufactured. The picking may be the story.
How We Say It
nyooz
Where It Comes From
Middle English newes — new things, tidings. Plural of new. The word is simply the plural of new — news was originally just new things. The institutional machinery of journalism is entirely absent from the etymology.
How It's Been Used
The business model of news has shaped its content at every stage — town crier, penny press, broadcast, cable, social media. 'Fake news' as a phrase was coined to describe fabricated content and then repurposed by politicians to describe unfavorable coverage, draining it of specific meaning.