SELECTION OF THE NEWS:Elements of news, Timeliness, proximity

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TV News Reporting and Production MCM 516

LESSON 16

SELECTION OF THE NEWS

What is News?

News is some thing or matter new, fresh, unusual, unique, strange and exclusive.

It may be defined as accurate fact or idea that will interest a large number of viewers. In a news

strangeness, abnormality, unexpectedness and nearness of and event, all add to interest in the news

story.

The American College Dictionary defines news as "A report of any recent event or situation and as the

report of event published in a newspaper"

According to Lord Northcliffe' "if a dog bites a man it is no news but if a man bites a dog it's news."

News is in fact a communication between human beings from the earliest period of human civilization.

News is information about an event, some development plan, and movement of important persons as it

is said, "big names make big news."

Qualities of news

Accurate

Balanced

Truthful

Recent

Exact

Perfect

Objective

Impartial

Unbiased

Disinclined

Concise

Short

Brief

To the point

Clear

Elements of news

Timeliness/Immediacy

Proximity

Consequence

Prominence

Suspense

Mystery

Oddity

Conflict

Progress

Action

Interest

Human Emotions

TV News Reporting and Production MCM 516

News and Documentary Production

Twelve Factors in Newsworthiness

Those involved in broadcast news must understand 12 factors that constitute news value, or

newsworthiness.

¤ Timeliness

¤ proximity

¤ exceptional quality

¤ possible future impact

¤ prominence

¤ conflict

¤ the number of people involved or affected

¤ consequence

¤ human interest

¤ pathos

¤ shock value

¤ titillation component

1. Timeliness: News is what's new. An afternoon raid on a rock cocaine house may warrant a live ENG

report during the 6 p.m. news. However, tomorrow, unless there are major new developments, the same

story will probably not be important enough to mention.

2. Proximity: If 15 people are killed in your hometown, your local TV station will undoubtedly

consider it news. But if 15 people are killed in Manzanillo, Montserrat, Moyobambaor, or some other

distant place you've never heard of, it will probably pass without notice. But there are exceptions.

3. Exceptional quality: One exception centers on how the people died. If the people in Manzanillo

were killed because of a bus or car accident, this would not be nearly as newsworthy as if they died

from an earthquake or stings from "killer bees," feared insects that have now invaded the United States.

Exceptional quality refers to how uncommon an event is. A man getting a job as a music conductor is

not news--unless that man is blind.

4. Possible future impact: The killer bee example illustrates another news element: possible future

impact. The fact that the killer bees are now in the United States and may eventually be a threat to

people watching the news makes the story much more newsworthy.

A mundane burglary of an office in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, was hardly news until two

reporters named Woodward and Bernstein saw the implications and the possible future impact.

Eventually, the story behind this seemingly common burglary brought down a U.S. President.

5. Prominence: The 15 deaths in Manzanillo might also go by unnoticed by the local media unless

someone prominent was on the bus--possibly a movie star or a well-known politician. If a U.S.

Supreme Court Justice gets married, it's news; if John Smith, your next-door neighbor, gets married, it

probably isn't.

6. Conflict: Conflict in its many forms has long held the interest of observers. The conflict may be

physical or emotional. It can be open, overt conflict, such as a civil uprising against police authority, or

it may be ideological conflict between political candidates.

The conflict could be as simple as a person standing on his principles and spending a year fighting city

hall over a parking citation. In addition to "people against people" conflict, there can be conflict with

wild animals, nature, the environment, or even the frontier of space.

7. The number of people involved or affected: The more people involved in a news event, be it a

demonstration or a tragic accident, the more newsworthy the story is. Likewise, the number of people

affected by the event, whether it's a new health threat or a new tax ruling, the more newsworthy the

story is.

8. Consequence: The fact that a car hit a utility pole isn't news, unless, as a consequence, power is lost

throughout a city for several hours. The fact that a computer virus found its way into a computer system

TV News Reporting and Production MCM 516

might not be news until it bankrupts a business, shuts down a telephone system, or endangers lives by

destroying crucial medical data at a hospital.

9. Human interest: Human-interest stories are generally soft news. Examples would be a baby beauty

contest, a person whose pet happens to be a nine-foot boa constrictor, or a man who makes a cart so that

his two-legged dog can move around again.

On a slow news day even a story of fire fighters getting a cat out of a tree might make a suitable story.

(Or, as shown here, a kid meeting a kid.) Human-interest angles can be found in most hard news stories.

A flood will undoubtedly have many human-interest angles: a lost child reunited with its parents after

two days, a boy who lost his dog, or families returning to their mud-filled homes.

10. Pathos: The fact that people like to hear about the misfortunes of others can't be denied. Seeing or

hearing about such things commonly elicits feelings of pity, sorrow, sympathy, and compassion. Some

call these stories "tear jerkers."

Examples are the child who is now all alone after his parents were killed in a car accident, the elderly

woman who just lost her life savings to a con artist, or the blind man whose seeing-eye dog was

poisoned.

This category isn't just limited to people. How about horses that were found neglected and starving, or

the dog that sits at the curb expectantly waiting for its master to return from work each day, even though

the man was killed in an accident weeks ago.

11. Shock value: An explosion in a factory has less shock value if it was caused by gas leak than if it

was caused by a terrorist. The story of a six year-old boy who shot his mother with a revolver found in a

bedside drawer has more shock (and therefore news) value than if same woman died of a heart attack.

Both shock value and the titillation factor (below) are well known to the tabloid press. The lure of these

two factors is also related to some stories getting inordinate attention, such as the sordid details of a

politician's or evangelist's affair--which brings us to the final point.

12. Titillation component: This factor primarily involves gender and is commonly featured--some

would say exploited--during rating periods.

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