What is News?
Definition of News and the
Importance of News in Our Daily
Lives
The Importance of News in Our
Daily Lives
 What is the biggest addiction in today’s
world?
The Hunger for Awareness Or The
Awareness Instinct
“Humans have exchanged a similar mix of
news…..throughout history and across
cultures.”
“When the flow of news is obstructed a
darkness falls and anxiety grows.”
Historian Mitchell Stephens in his book
“History of News”
So why are we addicted to news?
Why We Need News Then?
“We need news to live our lives, to protect
ourselves, bond with each other, identify friends
and enemies. Journalism is simply the system
societies generate to supply this news. That is
why we care about the character of news and
journalism we get: they influence the quality of
our lives, our thoughts and our culture.”
Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel in their book
“The Elements of Journalism”
Defining News
 Can we produce a comprehensive
definition of news?
Various Definitions of News
 North, East, West and South: what comes
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

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from there is news.
News is something that is revealed.
News is anything that you didn’t know
yesterday.
What is new is news.
News is what the newspapers print and
radio stations broadcast.
Various Definitions of News
 News is a compilation of facts and events of
current interest or importance to the readers of
the newspaper printing it.
 Sex, money, crime that is news.
 News is anything and everything interesting
about life and materials in all their
manifestations.
 News is any event, idea or opinion that is timely,
that interests or effects a large number of people
in a community and that is capable of being
understood by them.
Points to be Remembered While
Defining News
 News transcends the geographical
boundaries.
 News is always revealing.
 News is what interests people.
 News is new.
The Other Side of the Coin
NO NEWS INTERESTS ALL PEOPLE
The News Values
(The Criteria for Selecting News)
 Relevance or Proximity.
 Timeliness.
 Simplification.
 Predictability.
 Unexpectedness.
 Novelty.
 Continuity.
The News Values
(The Criteria for Selecting News)
 Composition.
 Elite People or Celebrities.
 Elite Nations or the Countries of First
World.
 Negativity.
Proximity or Relevance
 What do you understand by ‘Proximity’ or
‘Relevance’?
Proximity or Relevance
 Events, incidents or accidents which are
closer to us interest us more than the
events, incidents and accidents which
occur at far off places.
 Events, incidents or accidents that affect
our lives directly or indirectly interest us
most.
Timeliness
 What does timeliness mean?
Timeliness
 News is what is happening now rather
than what has happened in the past.
Simplification
 What do you understand by simplification?
Simplification
 Stories that can be told in straightforward
and unambiguous terms.
 That are easy to understand.
Predictability
 All stories that deal with events known
about in advance.
Unexpectedness
 What do you understand by
‘Unexpectedness’?
Unexpectedness
 Something that is unusual or rare falls
under the category of this news.
 Example: When Mars became visible from
earth by naked eye in the summer of 2003
for the first time in almost 700 years.
Novelty
 When dog bites man, it is no news; when
man bites dog it is news.
 Anything which is unusual is news.
 What is the difference then between
‘Unexpectedness and ‘Novelty’?
Continuity
 How can we define ‘Continuity’?
Continuity
 Stories which need a follow up or update
come under this category.
Composition
 What is composition?
Composition
 Composition denotes variety in news
coverage.
 A balance between hard core news stories
and human interest stories.
Elite People or Celebrities
 People want to know about the lives of
celebrities.
 They are also interested in knowing how
their role models conduct themselves in
their day to day lives.
Elite Nations
 Just like celebrities or elite, people also
show interest in events taking place in the
‘first world’ countries.
Negativity
 ‘Bad news’ is generally deemed more
interesting than ‘good news’.
 That is why stories about disasters, crime
and scandal feature high.