The meaning of the term “news”

Events happenEvents happen but they are not turned into news. Events become news according to their audiences. An event which becomes news for one audience isn’t necessarily news for another audience. This presentation tries to make sense of what news is.

News in entertainmentPeople usually read the news because they find it entertaining and humorous. If the news is humour in the topic it is more likely to attract the reader because it is funny to read. For example if a 9 year old boy got A*’s in his GCSEs that will definitely make the news because it is entertaining and great news.

Bad newsBad news is really a popular topic in the news industry because if something bad has happened more people will want to know what has happened and more people will feel more bad for the situation. For example if someone bombed down the white house in America that will be serious because it happened in one of the most important houses in the the world and it is a terrorist attack.

Celebrities If any well-known person does anything people will try to find out what it is and especially if you’re a very important celebrity, It will be more easy to find out especially if your well known.

ProximityProximity is nearness which means that an incident that has been reported as news has taken place near the people. The proximity depends on how distant the event is. For example, if there was an incident happening in Scotland, we wouldn’t pay as much attention to it, as it is not as close to where we live. The closer the incident, the more we would find it more interesting.

TimelinessTimeliness in this concept means information that is fresh, it is about what it is happening now and not what has happened in the past. What happened about a week ago is not classified as being news. What is old is not news in any way.

ImpactImpact is the number of people whose lives will be influenced in some way by the subject of the story. The significance, importance, or consequence of an event or trend; the greater the consequence, and the larger the number of people for who an event is important the greater the newsworthiness.

UnusualnessUnusualness is something that doesn’t usually happen, it is something that you wouldn’t expect. For example, if a dog bites a man, it is not news. But if a man bites a dog, then it is news because it is expected, something you don't usually see.