News is news is news ... the most simple concept(s)

I don't agree, Iains. At the absolute minimum, whether you are talking broadcasts, printed papers or even websites, there is a selection process that goes on, that decides whether a piece of news is 'newsworthy', where it ranks against other stories - front page or back page, running order and so on - so any reported news is partial, even if not deliberately so.

Add to that, there is always bias, intentional or not, in how the news item itself is presented, as in the possibly apocryphal "Fog in the channel - continent cut off".

Then all news vendors are aware they need to entertain, not just present news. The best example of this at the moment is the letter falling off of the display during Teresa May's speech. Amusing, yes. A good metaphor opportunity, yes. But news? Letter falls of board - news? I think not.

Whatever else is going on, there is nothing simple about news.