News DeterminantsNews Determinants(Introduction To Journalism)(Introduction To Journalism)

Submitted to Muhammad Ahmad Sheikh (Emeritus Professor at UMT). Ex- Deputy Controller

Radio Pakistan)

News DeterminantsNews DeterminantsElements which play important

role in making a news worthy.

TimelinessTimelinessNews is perishable. It loses value as it

ages.

Readers want to know now. What happened yesterday, last night, or this morning is more newsworthy than what happened last week.

ProminenceProminenceImportant people are newsworthy; others

aren’t.

Politicians, actors, singers--anyone in the public arena or public eye--are newsworthy.

ProximityNews closer to home has more news

value than that from far away.

A fire in Mexico is less newsworthy than a fire in your hometown. However, if something happens far away but involves local people, then the news value increases because of proximity

Human Interest

1) Oddity:Readers are intrigue by the unusual or out-of-the-ordinary.

It is unusual for people to know that a man shot himself in the head.

2) Conflict:Readers want to know who will win in elections, wars, sports, etc.

3) EmotionReaders become emotionally involved in stories about children, animals, etc. Other stories can evoke humor, sympathy, anger, etc.

NegativityBad news is more newsworthy than good

news.

Shahid Afridi hits his fan.

ConsequenceNews which directly affects readers has

more news value.

The greater the impact of the information upon the readers, or the more readers affected by the information, the greater the news value of that information.