What Is News?

Let’s Keep It Simple...

News

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What’s New

News value the criteria editors and reporters use to decide what news is fit to

print or broadcast

Professor Villarosa’s son catches huge fish on Labor Day 2014!

How to Judge News Value

• Relevance (Does it matter?)

• Usefulness (Is it important that people know this?)

• Interest (Who cares?)

Journalists look for these elements, when selecting news

stories: • Timeliness• Impact• Conflict• Novelty• Prominence• Proximity• Engagement• Solutions

Timeliness

News is supposed to be new. These days that means instantaneous.

Another journalist beheaded on video posted Tuesday

Weather Channel Boasts Record Ratings, Thanks to Hurricane

Sandy; 300 million page views!

Impact

How many people are affected? The greater the

impact, the better the story.

Hurricane Sandy Pummels East Coast

Another journalist beheaded on video posted Tuesday

Conflict

U.S. Military Strikes Iraq

NYC Mayoral Candidates Spar in Final Debate

Novak Djokovic Defeats Andy Murray to Reach U.S. Open Semifinals

What’s the conflict?

Novelty

Some events are newsworthy just because they are unusual.

Cat Survives 26 Story Fall

Prominence

The bigger the name, the bigger the news

Royal Baby!

Proximity

People care about what happens close to home.

Laundry Lounge Opens in Harlem!

West Indian Day Parade

Engagement

Sometimes a news report marks the beginning of a conversation—that keeps

going.

Police shoot unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri

Strikes a chord, sparks national conversation

Solutions

Many news stories discuss problems; the best ones also offer

solutions.

College Debt Reaches All-Time High

• 7 Ways to Reduce College Debt

• Experts discuss solutions for the College Debt Crisis

• How to save money on college expenses

To recap…Journalists look for these elements, when selecting

news stories: • Timeliness

• Impact

• Conflict

• Novelty

• Prominence

• Proximity

• Engagement

• Solutions

Assignment due next Tuesday

• Write 300 words about a news event that affected your life. What was it? When was it? Why was it important to you? How did you first find out—TV, social media, word of mouth?

• Print it out, double space, pay attention to grammar.