Newsworthiness: Part I

There has been a lot said about “fake news” in the media these last couple of days, and the politics of that debate go beyond the scope of this blog. But this sudden occurrence of those two words in newscasts inevitably asks the greater question, what is news? This blog will first answer that question, and then will attempt to demonstrate why the mere existence of the “35-page document” is in fact news.

First, it is important to understand a little supply and demand. If we did not want news; economic theory proves that there would be no news in a capitalist economy. It is important to note that even communist countries have news. The reason news exist is due to us wanting it. Why is this? Again, storytelling is a big part of being human, and as you know there are elements of a good story. You desire these elements when you pick a movie or read a book. So what makes a story desirable?

Conflict

The element may show up in the form of physical, social, economic, religious, or political conflict realms that you may have heard before in your classes referred to as man vs man. There is also conflict that entails man vs nature.

Progress

If things are getting better or worse, it is newsworthy. For example, if someone you know graduates from college, or you political party gains ground; you will be interested. Also you would be likely to be interested in knowing about war, peace or a scientific advancement.

Timeliness

What is interesting today is much more compelling than what was interesting yesterday and especially weeks and months before. We live in the present, but dwell on the past. And, we worry about the future. This makes the conflicts and progressions of the moment very important to us.

Proximity

The closer to home a story applies, the more we are interested. If you look at a news stand, you will see that there is often a local city paper, a state-wide paper, and at least one national paper.

Novelty

This is the unusual, out-of-place aspect of newsworthiness. This aspect includes things are outside the general routine, and things that fall into this category are going to be incredible, astonishing, and almost unbelievable.

(to be continued)

References

Zeepedia (2016) . News Values II . zeepedia.com . retrieved July 29, 2016 from http://www.zeepedia.com/read.php?news_values_ii_timeliness_proximity_novelty_human_intere st_radio_news_reporting_and_production&b=80&c=5

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