“News” refers to any unpublished account of human activity that is intended to inform, educate, and entertain readers. In order to qualify as news, an event must have never been published before and relate to human activity, or at least to something that readers will find of interest. Here are some tips to identify newsworthy items:
Content analysis of news values
The study of published outputs can be useful for testing the scholarly explanations of news values. Two such explanations are provided by Galtung and Ruge. Based on the findings of the study, the authors can conduct further analysis and exploration. This research is particularly useful for journalists who have to deliver important news stories to their audiences. This article is an excellent example of content analysis of news values. It highlights some of the factors that make a story worth reporting.
Influences on news selection
The first contact a journalist has with a potential piece of news can affect their subsequent gathering of information. Rather than concentrating on a single newsroom channel, journalists should focus on one that determines the start of the story. McManus defined news discovery as the first contact a reporter has with a potential news item. This interaction triggers the news making process and makes the reporter aware of the potential news item. This is a crucial stage in the process of news selection.
Time factor
In our study, we examined how various factors affect the prominence of news stories. Time and proximity positively influenced the prominence of news stories. More popular news media were ranked higher than less popular ones. Nonetheless, many factors were consistent across media. Despite the similarities between newspapers and newscasts, there were significant differences as well. We also investigated the relationship between time and the personification of news stories. We found that longer stories had more credibility.
Objectivity
The most common attack on objectivity in news is that journalists choose their raw material. McDonald defended journalistic objectivity as an occupational ideology, but was not the only advocate of a sociological perspective on journalism. Sociologists consider that reporting rearranges and truncates reality. It is therefore an occupational ideology that journalists should strive to maintain. This article will discuss some of the challenges to achieving objectivity in news. It will also outline some of the solutions to the problem.
Fairness
While everyone may understand the concept of fairness, they may not understand what it actually means. Fairness is comprised of two aspects, objectivity and impartiality. While objectivity means presenting facts without putting personal biases into the story, subjectivity means putting personal beliefs into the story. In short, fairness is important for the sake of accuracy. Nonetheless, people will have different reasons for valuing different forms of coverage.
Imagery
This paper examines the role of imagery in news language and the memory processes associated with it. Imagery in news can affect the memory processes in two ways. First, it can cause psychological injury by inciting copycat behaviors. Second, it can create a sense of vicarious trauma. Ultimately, it reveals that we respond to imagery in different ways. Imagery in news plays a crucial role in our understanding of the human condition.