Basic formatting.
- Date in the the topic title, written before the Text title, in numbers. DD/MM/YY
example: "31/11/07 Hip Hop is dead, or is it- Rakim talks"
Note: the date should be of when the article was written or the info was released, not when you posted.(ALL article writers include the date the article was posted/written) - Post a link to your source/s. A simple link will do, the perfect way to do it would be link ur source with a url code highlighting a single word: "SOURCE"
Example: "SOURCE" or "www.cnn.com" - If you should find yourself in a position of needing to give your own title to the topic containing the info posted in the thread, do so considering that other people have to understand what the thread is about. As most good sources already have a good title that describes the info, your only concern is that it's not too long(so that your title of the thread is not cut off half way through), and if your source doesn't happen to give a good description in the title, then use your own mind to rephrase it.
On the side note:
Please, and i mean it, please, if you are posting news be responsible enough to at least check if the news was posted already (except if it was posted in a artist or non-news-related forum section, those threads shouldn't be there in the first place). The reason I am making this new simple rule, adding the date for each news thread, is because it makes it easier both for the posters and the staff recognize if the articles you are posting are up to date. With the range of time that the article/info is relevant, you are obviously going to have to estimate for yourself, just as long as its NEWs, I'd say a 2-3 day range is optimal. Ideally however, The old news should be replaced by new threads, and the newly given dates for the articles and info should raise awareness of what is actually news and whats old news.