What IS News?

What makes an event or a situation newsworthy?

What IS News?

• Many more events occur and situations develop in the world each day than are reported by the news media. Answer this question thoughtfully on your paper:

• Why are some events and situations reported as news while others are not? What qualities make a story newsworthy?

• Suggest as many factors as you can. Explain why these factors define newsworthiness.

What IS News?

• What makes a news story different from a literary story?

• What makes a news story different from a history? • News is often called "the first draft of history"-

why? • Why do people say that "dog bites man" is not

news, but "man bites dog" is news? • Under what circumstances would "dog bites man"

become news?

What IS News?

• "News values" make stories newsworthy. • News values are generally categorized

according to the following eight criteria…

News Values/Criteria• Nearness

– (How close was the event, situation, or revelation?)

• Timeliness – (How recent was the event, situation, or revelation?)

• Importance – (How many people are affected by the event, situation, or revelation?)

• Name recognition – (Were famous or familiar people involved?)

• Drama or conflict – (Do people's fortunes hang in the balance?)

• Variety – (How many ways can the story be framed?)

• Human interest (HI) – (How many types of readers find the story interesting?)

• Humor or entertainment – (Barring some other strong emotional connection, is there a secondary story line that readers will

find insightfully humorous?)

News Values/News Criteria

• Does a news story need to have to have all eight elements?

News Values/News Criteria

• People • + Action • + Reader Interest • = News

News Values/Criteria

• Proceed with research on Handout 2