Inform

Inform means giving the audience facts or information about a subject, product, event or issue. A media product made to inform exists so that people can find out something accurate and useful, such as a date, a price, a rule or how an item works.

Clear facts, easy to find

Informative products are built around the facts. Their layout, headings and wording are chosen so the audience can find and understand the information quickly. For example:

• A bus company's app showing the next departure times from your stop.
• A museum label beside a fossil giving its name, age and where it was found.
• A school newsletter stating the date and time of parents' evening.
• A recipe card listing the ingredients and oven temperature for a cake.

These examples are not trying to sell you something or keep you entertained. Each simply makes accurate facts available, which is what a product with an informing purpose is designed to do.

Inform is not the same as educate: informing puts facts in front of the audience, while educating helps them learn and improve through explanations, examples and activities.