What Makes
It News?
News Writing
• News is what is happening NOW. If it
happened last month or last year, it’s
not news anymore; it’s history.
• Often, the most newsworthy element in
the story is the most recent happening,
the latest occurrence that relates to the
news event.
Timeliness/
Immediacy
• How close to your readers did something
happen? Will they feel connected?
• All other things being equal, something that is
happening in a person’s school,
neighborhood, town or city is more
meaningful to them than something taking
place across the state or across the world.
Proximity
• How will this event affect your readers?
• Something that will change your readers’
lives, even in a small way, is more
important than something that won’t have
any consequences for them.
Impact /
Consequence
• Is there a disagreement between people in
the story? Rivalry? Misunderstanding?
• People are naturally drawn to arguments,
fights, disagreements and discord. We find
conflict fascinating. Stories related to war
and politics, in addition to having impact,
also are often interesting because they
contain conflict.
Conflict
• Some journalists also include “continuation” in this category,
as many conflict stories are ongoing and reported continually
for some time.
• Is a well-known person part of the story?
• Readers like to read about people they
know. If a person is well-known, more
readers will be interested than if they have
never heard of the person. This includes
prominent people in your school or city,
not just famous celebrities.
Prominence /
Celebrity
• If something is out of the ordinary, it may
be newsworthy just because it is unusual
or weird.
• The strange or unusual is fascinating to
many readers. Events that happen only
rarely are more newsworthy than
something that happens frequently.
Oddity / Rarity /
Novelty
• Does it make you laugh or want to cry?
• Anything that appeals to readers’
emotions is interesting. Stories that make
people laugh, cry, get angry, feel
sympathy or pity, or be amazed are often
the most-read stories in the paper or
website.
Human Interest /
Emotion
• Some stories are news simply because a
lot of people are talking about them.
• Often, these are stories that some people
think are overblown or non-news, such as
the birth of the royal baby or Miley Cyrus
twerking on national TV.
Currency
• The term “news value” is used to describe
whether a particular story is news. When a story
has one or more of the elements of news, it has
news value, but some stories have more value to
readers than others.
• The more elements that are present for a
particular audience, the more value a story has
for them as news.
News Value
• 1. Is it timely or immediate? (timeliness)
• 2. Is it happening nearby? (proximity)
• 3. Does it affect the readers or viewers, or have some
consequence for their lives? (impact/consequence)
• 4. Is it about someone who is well known?
(prominence/celebrity)
• 5. Is it odd, rare, weird, a “first” or otherwise outside the
ordinary? (oddity/rarity/novelty)
• 6. Is it about a conflict or disagreement, or the continuation of
one? (conflict)
• 7. Does it tug at the heart strings? (human interest)
• 8. Is it something everyone is talking about in social media or
other news media? (currency)
Rule of 8
Four other
considerations
of newsworthiness
• Always remember who your readers are.
• Some stories appeal more to teens. Some
are interesting mostly to parents, or to
teachers or to retirees. Keep your readers’
inherent interests in mind when deciding if
it’s news to them.
Audience
• Sometimes, publications may choose not to report
something that would otherwise be newsworthy
because of their policies.
• For example, most publications do not publish the
names of rape victims or children who are
involved in crimes. Most do not publish profanity.
When in doubt, consult your school’s student
media policy.
Policy
• With the 24/7 news cycle, what one publication
reports on often becomes news for many or all of
the others.
• Your competition is whatever other media your
audience consumes.
• Also think of nearby schools’ publications as
your competition, since yours should always be
better than theirs!
• In student media, it’s always good to watch and
read what other schools are covering.
Competition
• Sometimes, something gets a good position on a
news page or website because of how it looks.
• If it has a great photo, a really catchy headline or a
cool chart with some startling statistic, it’s going to
attract more readers.
• So … if you want people to read your story, then
take good photos, create a cool infographic (with
accurate info, of course) or write a great headline.
Presentation