Choosing Stories… What is News? “If it bleeds it leads”

How are these stories different?

Objectives You Will Be Able To… Describe the elements that make up a good news story List the different types of News

Proximity “Small Earthquake in Chile Not Many Dead” Must have relevance locally What will play better? Huge Problem For Them Small Problem For Us

Relevance Who is your audience? Stories should be the ones that have the greatest effect on their lives. What effects your audience Upbringing Environment Education Background Beliefs Morality Etc.

Immediacy “Yesterday’s Newspaper is used to wrap fish and yesterday’s broadcast does not exist at all” News is about what’s happening now What happened yesterday is dead Need Something Fresh Need Some new angle

Interest Appeal to the mass interest Must have wide appeal Provide the Audience with… Wants to Know Needs to Know E.g. - People Celebrities, politicians, athletes, etc. Live Through Vicariously

Drama “Stranger-Than-Fiction” Newswriting closely related to storytelling Excitement Danger Adventure Conflict But, Be Careful… Maintain integrity Don’t Dress Up Facts

Entertainment Some Journalists see entertainment as “dirty” Performance in the Presentation Entertainment in the Writing “Kicker” or “Tailpiece” Light or Humorous Story ‘Leave ‘em Smiling’ Where do we draw the line between news and entertainment?

Other Types of News Emergencies Crime Local and National Government Planning and Development Conflict and Controversy Pressure Groups Traffic Industry Health Human Interest Personalities Sports Seasonal News Special Local Interest Weather But, The First Question That Must Always Be Asked is….

Does it affect our audience? Is it local?

Activity: Watch the Short News Broadcast and answer the following (this will be collected)… ABC HeadlineABC Headline Which stories did you find the most RELEVANT and Why? In what way is the relevance of those stories determined by their geographical PROXIMITY to you?