What Is News Values?
News Values
News values are guidelines that determine how much prominence a media outlet gives a news story. They explain why a story interests its audience and how editors and other journalists decide which information is news and which is not. News editors can't report all that is of interest because of time and space constraints.
They must keep stories that interest their audience and keep information that lacks newsworthiness. Journalists are always looking for stories that are in the public interest. They will be able to select stories that can boost their ratings.
The news process involves both the journalist and their audience who may have different priorities. The most popular stories are revealed by newspaper circulation figures. There is a
Consumers know the kind of news that interests them most when they choose a particular broadcast channel or newspaper. There are so many lists. Some news practices are specific to one nation or place, while others are universal.
The debate has grown as sociologists, linguists, psychologists, anthropologists and practicing journalists discuss the issues from their own academic perspectives. Do leads and headlines reflect the full story? The opening paragraph or lead of a news report is usually the main summary of the story.
Impact Stories Matter
A nonprofit that is focused on community issues might value stories about impact more than stories about conflict. The organization has a shared understanding of the values that matter to its audience.
Human Interest Angles
Human interest angles can be useful in helping you put a human face on a bigger story that needs to be personalized. Peter Frates is a great example of a human interest story that emerged from the Ice Bucket Challenge.
What is News and what Is Not
What is news and what is not news? How do they decide between a big news story and a small one? They do it the same way as everyone else.
Everyone makes the same judgments when they talk about one event over another. The same event can have different levels of interest in different societies. If a wall collapses, killing a cow and pig, which is more important?
The answer will vary from society to society, depending on the importance of cows and pigs. It cannot be news if it is not new. The assassination of Mrs Gandhi is interesting and significant, but it cannot be reported in tomorrow's papers because it is not new.
Things are happening all the time, but not all of them are news. A man wakes up, eats breakfast and goes to work on a bus, but nobody wants to read about it because it is not unusual. Ordinary and everyday things are not news.
Events which are new and unusual are not of general interest. Scientists may say that an insect has just been found on a plant that it had never been to before. The event is unusual but not likely to interest anyone other than a specialist or enthusiast.
The Impact of Nearby Events on the Audience
If an event is happening nearby, it will affect the audience more than if it were happening somewhere else that doesn't affect them as much. Audiences are interested in disagreements, arguments and rivalries. Many consumers will be interested in an event if it has a conflict.
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