Newsworthiness is determined by factors like relevance, usefulness, interest, proximity, timeliness, conflict, eminence, uniqueness, human interest, and consequences. Stories should be informative for the audience and publisher. Proximity considers how close the event is to the audience. Timeliness means how recently it occurred. Conflict and controversy can make a story newsworthy. Eminence examines if well-known people are involved. Uniqueness looks at unusual aspects. Human interest explores emotional impact. Consequences consider how the event affects the audience.
4. What type of media are you writing for?Is it useful for your audience? - is it informative? Will it interest your readers? The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
5. What is newsworthiness? Proximity Timeliness Conflict Eminence & Prominence Uniqueness Human Interest / Novelty Consequence & Impact The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
6. Proximity How close is the even to you? How close is the event to you? Example: Car accident in Las Vegas vs. Portsmouth The public are most interested in what could affect them personally – most people want to know what is going on around them and what changes there are in the world that could either help them or cause them a problem - take politics for example if a persons party is made leader of the country then people want to know. The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
7. Timeliness How recently did/will the event happen? Live event? The more time passes, the less newsworthy story is. The public like current news, that’s as simple as it gets. The one exception to the rule is if the story updates a previous story. Think of it this way, a newspaper reported about the news of Michael Jacksons death again it wouldn’t be newsworthy unless there were updates about the circumstances of his death. The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
8. Conflict Conflict and tension is more interesting than peace. Example: Two countries at war is more newsworthy than two regions without conflict. Conflict/Controversy can apply to physical, emotional, political, ideological, moral, ethical etc. Not only can the story be controversial/Conflicting but it can make the public change its view it can cause uproar and can change a society. These column types can be a very sensitive matter so you have to handle with caution. The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
9. Eminence & Prominence How well known is the subject matter at hand? Example: Sex scandal with a neighbor will be less newsworthy than with a celebrity or a politician. A simple factor is that if the person being written about is a well known individual then we as a public audience will find it more interesting than someone unknown. The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
10. Uniqueness What stands out? What makes it different? In order to have a unique story its not about having a story that is totally different but taking on a different aspect and telling the public in a different way. An odd or totally unique story will nearly always be newsworthy. A story about a man being mugged by another person won’t be terribly interesting but if a man was mugged by a dog then that would arouse much interest. The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
11. Human Interest/Novelty What is the emotional impact of the story? If it is ‘Interesting’ then it may be newsworthy to your audience. As people we are naturally interested about other people, if a story occurs where we don’t read about another person or a group of people it can be a tough one for the editor who would have to find a story that would capture the interest of people and would have to find the right reporter. The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
12. Consequence & Impact How does the event impact the audience? Example: Changes in university fees, may impact you directly. The questions that needs to be thought about is does your story impact someone’s life? And how does it? You need to find the significance about the story and how it is significant to now. The Quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins