News Item
Units of news reporting with headline, dateline, attribution, corrections and publication history.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
3 bundles · 3 layers · 5 findings · 10 questions
Item identity What the item is and who stands behind it.
Publication and authorship
Publisher, author, dateline and the version history of the item.
Publisher and byline
The news organization and authors responsible for the item.
- Which organization published the item, and who is credited as author?
- Is the item original reporting, agency copy or syndicated content?
Version and correction
Each published version with its corrections and updates.
- When was the item first published, and when last updated?
- Was a correction or retraction issued, and what did it change?
Content and claims What the item reports and on what grounds.
Subject and sources
The events, people and places reported and the sources cited.
Reported subject
Events, places and people the item is about.
- Which event does the item report, and where and when did it happen?
- Which people and organizations are named?
Sourcing
The sources the claims rest on.
- Which sources are cited, and are any anonymous?
- Can the main claims be traced to primary documents or statements?
Distribution and rights How the item may be used and where it circulates.
Rights and labelling
Licence, embargo and labels such as opinion or sponsored.
Usage terms
Licence, embargo and territorial restrictions.
- Under which licence may the item be reused, and is it under embargo?
- Is the item labelled as news, opinion, analysis or sponsored content?
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- World Models
- Category
- Society, people and institutions
- Entry kind
- standalone-mm
- Navigation path
- NAV.SOC.CIV.NWS
- Domain
- SOC.CIV.NWS
- Industry
- Cross-industry
- Tags
- newsitemsoc.civ.nws
What it is Filled
A news item is a discrete unit of reporting about recent events, published by a news organization or author with a headline, a dateline, a body and attribution, and possibly revised or corrected after release. It is the editorial unit, not the media files that carry it, the event it reports or opinion and advertising content.
Why it exists Filled
Units of news reporting with headline, dateline, attribution, corrections and publication history.
Distinguishing features Filled
- A news item is the editorial unit, separate from the media assets and renditions that carry it.
- It is versioned in public: corrections and updates are part of its record.
- It reports on an event but is not the event, and its claims may be wrong.
- Distinct from a scholarly publication, which goes through peer review, and from advertising.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Reproduce full articles or substantial parts against their licence.
- Present a news claim as verified fact without checking its sources.
- Strip the byline, publisher or correction notice from an item.
- Fabricate quotes or attribute statements to people who did not make them.
- Release embargoed content before the embargo ends.
Only with a human decision
- Publishing or retracting a news item.
- Deciding on a correction or a takedown request.
- Naming a private person in connection with an allegation.
May
- Summarize a news item with attribution to its publisher and a link to the original.
- Report the publication time, updates and corrections of an item.
- Compare how different outlets report the same event.
- Flag items labelled as sponsored or opinion.
Moral aspects Filled
- Inaccurate or manipulated news can harm people and distort public decisions.
- Reporting can expose private people, victims and minors to lasting harm.
- Reuse without attribution or payment undermines the work of journalists.
Who is affected
- Readers and the public
- People named or depicted in the item
- Journalists and publishers
Owners Filled
Steward
The publishing news organization, through its editor responsible for the item, answers for its content and corrections.
Master systems
- Editorial content management system
- News agency wire archive
- Publisher archive
Links to other meta-models Filled
related
- wm-act-044-content-publication - Publication is the act that releases a news item.
references
- wm-med-002-media-asset-rendition - Images, audio and video carried by the item are media assets.
- wm-act-015-occurrence-event - The events a news item reports.
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- A news item is identified by the publisher's item identifier and its canonical URL.
- Agency items carry IPTC news item GUIDs with version numbers.
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
A news item is an information object; its attributes are editorial metadata, not physical measurements.
Recognition optional Filled
- A news item has a headline, a dateline, a byline or publisher and a publication time.
- Often confused with opinion pieces, press releases, sponsored content and social media posts.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- An item can be published, updated, corrected, retracted or unpublished, each as a recorded version.
- An item can be syndicated to other outlets under licence.
- An item can be linked to the events, people and places it reports.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Spread of misinformation through false or manipulated items.
- Defamation or privacy harm to people named in an item.
- Copyright infringement through unlicensed reuse.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- IPTC NewsML-G2 and ninjs for exchange of news items.
- schema.org NewsArticle for publication on the web.
- C2PA content credentials for provenance of attached media.
Context of use required Filled
- Produced by newsrooms and agencies under editorial codes and press law.
- Consumed through websites, apps, aggregators and broadcast.
Sources Filled
- NewsML-G2 (IPTC)
- Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists (International Federation of Journalists)
Open questions
- Planned model: boundary questions, research and every section remain to be written.
Machine files
Provenance
planned (registry candidate) · todo
Built from: models/runtime-index.json, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-civ-007-news-item.json
Planned entry, hidden from the catalogue until researched.