1. Deciding What is News

2. What is news?  Easy to define in the past  Equaled events  Now is more in-depth coverage and analysis of major issues as well as events  Shifting attitudes and demographics = a facelift for the news in the last few decades  News now covers a wider range of topics

3. Change in Direction  Serious news traded for more colorful, upbeat journalism by some such as USA Today  Declining literacy, loss of young readers, and a mobile society led to this change  Economics has caused papers to compromise  More news going on Internet

4. Where We Are Now  News still needs to emphasize the government  Events still covered, but many new additions  Lifestyles of rich and famous, fashion, health, arts, leisure, exercise, recreation, and nutrition are some of the topics covered now because of the new demographics

5. News Judgment  Journalists must evaluate what is out there and select stories that will interest, inform, educate and amuse the audience  Must balance what the audience wants and what it needs  Use new judgment to decide what story to cover out of multiple choices and how to cover it (which angle to take)

6. Who Cares?  Journalists ask themselves “Who cares?” to decide if something is newsworthy  If they can honestly say that the story, person, or event is important to an audience than they have news

7. You Choose…  A) The mayor signs a proclamation designating next week as Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up Week  B) The mayor announces an investigation into the disappearance of $750,000 from the city’s general fund. Who cares about these stories? Are they news? Which should go on the front page?

8. Elements of News Timeliness/Immediacy –  Relates to the newness of the facts  The element that makes a story about the evolution of the Christmas tree more interesting in December than April  Ask yourself, “Is this story new? Is this the best time to interest people in this story?”

9. Elements of News Proximity -  Refers to the nearness of an event to your place of publication  Events occurring in your town generally have more news value than those happening half way across the world  Remember, people like to read about things they are familiar with

10. Elements of News Prominence – Refers to the newsworthiness of an individual Example: Julia Roberts gets married = newsworthy; I get married = not newsworthy People interested in people they are familiar with

11. Elements of News Consequence/Impact -  Refers to the importance of an event  Example: If you flunk a math test = not news; The star quarterback flunks the math test and therefore cannot play in the play-offs and therefore the team may lose CIF = news  More people interested in the football game, and therefore the QB’s grades, than they are in your personal life

12. Elements of News  The CA state Senate passes a bill to expand all freeways in the state by two lanes  This news may take place in Sacramento. but it has consequence for you here in LA

13. Elements of News Emotions –  Stories that cover what humans are generally interested in  Cause readers to laugh, cry, feel sorrow, pity or amazement (feel emotion in general)  Should tickle the funny bone or evoke feelings or pity, sorrow, or amazement

14. Elements of News Novelty -  Unusual stories  Example: A fifteen-year-old genius graduates from college with honors  Shortest basketball player  Youngest teacher  Oldest custodian

15. Elements of News Conflict -  Involves tension, surprise and suspense  Eg.: a divorce, a sports game, a strike Other Factors –  Progress, money, disaster, novelty, oddity, drama, and so on  No easy rule for what is news; have to figure it out yourself with practice

16. News Arithmetic  1 ordinary person + 1 ordinary life = 0  1 ordinary person + 1 extraordinary adventure = News  1 husband + 1 wife = 0  1 husband + 3 wives = News  1 person + 1 achievement = news  1 ordinary person + 1 ordinary life of 79 years = 0  1 ordinary person + 1 ordinary life of 100 years = News From Editing the Day’s News by George Bastian and Leland Case