記事
きじ · kiji · JLPT N3 · noun
article
📰 記事 = record + matter: a matter written down is an article
記 means to record or write down (as in 日記, diary), and 事 means a matter or affair. Put them together and you get an affair someone wrote up, which is a news story. Sound hook: kiji sounds a bit like key gist, the key gist of the news.
事 — hand 又 holding a banner/tablet on a pole
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) grasping a pole or ceremonial banner used by an official, depicting the act of conducting court business. From this it came to mean 'affair, matter, business, service.' It shares an ancient origin with 史 (scribe) and 吏 (official).