There are things happening all around the world in every second, but how can the news use merely few pages to present the “world of the day”? Are these news “special” in some way? Within this lecture, Dr Redman introduced us to the concept of “news value” which serves as the measurement of whether a story is qualified as news or not.
l What is news value?
Within journalism, there is a broadly agreed set of values called ‘news value’ or ‘newsworthiness’.
There are four main elements that constructed news value and can be used as the measurement for the degree of newsworthiness:
Impact-The prominence a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid by an audience.
Audience identification-stories that are of target audience’s interest. Ex: anything that may be relevant to the target audience: relevant to the world, local, culture etc.
Pragmatics-ethics –facticity-practice / practical
current affairs –everyday (24-7 news)
Source influence-the source of news may be influenced by PR; thus the news release and context may be dependent on how PR spins the stories.
Many things happen in a day, but only a small proportion of them are selected to become news. The day’s news is selected according to the news value and the degree of its associated importance. This may vary across different news services, culture and society as the target audience and the societal or cultural context such news exists in vary as well. In addition, in selection of news, journalists usually relies on instinct of sensing the news value instead of logic.
l News value at work
Convert triangle-News is organized into the degree of importance:
1st most news worthy information-2nd important details- 3rd other general info/ background.
l Type of news value
Negativity-bad news, “if it bleeds, it leads”
(Malala Yousafzai being shot by Taliban)
Proximity-high relevancy to the target audience culturally or geographically; story can be made meaningful for particular audience this way. “If it’s local, it leads”
(Brisbane Zombie Walk)
Recency-as fast as possible in terms of the speed in breaking news.
Currency-continuous reporting of stories that that has established its value within the public.
(The continuous debate on Carbon tax)
Continuity-following up of previous stories.
(After so many yeats, there is still following up story about "dingo ate my baby"; interview with the mother is still taken place in the recent years)
Uniqueness –Novelty, unusual event.
(Flix Baumgartner, jumps down from the highest height above ground and break the world reocrd)
Simplicity-succinct and straight forward, easy for audience to engage with.
(Busgfires is a topic that people are familiar with in Australia)
Predictability-fit into the particular target audience and its news agency’s expectation and interest.
(The News fits US audience's perspective and expectation)
Elite Nations or People-any stories that cover an important or powerful nation or people.
(PM Julia Gillard)
Exclusivity-a major factor in setting news agenda; to be the first and only one to break the news.
(Live and exclusive interview)
Size-higher the degree of the people, resource and society being impact or involved higher the news value.
(SARS)
Entertainment-entertaining or ‘Mickey Mouse’ news that serves to please the audience.
(PSY in Australia)
Human interest-emotional news or of moral that is in human interest or related to humanity.
(US swimming coach is suspected to conduct sexual abuse on teenage girl)
Controversy-scandals, rooms for debate and discuss which creates tension.
(enthunasia)
Good news-positive news
(Australia won gold medal in Olympics)
l Threats to news value
Journalism vs. Commercialization of media and social life
Journalism vs. Public Relations
Journalism’s ideals vs. Journalism’s reality
According to Dr Redman, in contemporary journalism industry, news is no longer just pure facts being reported. External power, forces and spinning of PR has influenced on the coverage of stories, controlling what people can know, and how things can be known as, which generally serves the interest of the power who control the media. Instead of presenting the truth, news being presenting as ‘factual events happen in the world’ may then become means of ideologies working. Subsequently, commercialization of media and social life then costs news to be less credible.
l Future of News value
As the form of News steps up to the age of new media, whereas produsage prevails, tradition news value may shift as well. For me, I think as new media give rise to citizen journalists, than the one who breaks the news may more often be the one at the happening of the event, instead of who work as journalist who need to rush to the spot. Therefore, I think exclusivity or recency that traditional media institution holds may than not be the news value that they keep anymore. I think instead of speed, if professional journalists are to survive, they need to be able to deliver something that can only be done by “them” instead of anyone, for example, unique skills in investigating events in-depth. Hence, I think investigative journalism may be the news value in the new media age.
l Extra Material
l News value by Lisa Granatstein
l Gender issue: media news value?
l PR people and the trade press disagree about news value
l News value by John Lipton
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