News is that which people want to know about, as it is of interest to them and worthy of holding their attention. Determining newsworthiness is an essential skill for a journalist who needs to be sure that their reports will be received by an eager audience.

Relevance

News that is worthy of being reported in one place, may be thought of as uninteresting in another. This is because how close an audience is to the story being reported, both in proximity and in regards to emotional interest is of utmost importance.

A story is relevant for a particular audience if it touches them personally in some way. If, for example, a local, and much loved theatre closes down people who have never been to the theatre, or even heard of it, will not be at all interested. Local people will, however, be far more interested because the news about the theatre affects them personally and is literally close to home.

Possible Future Importance

Another way that a piece of news can be relevant is when it has the 'potential' to affect its audience. A story which has possible far reaching consequences in the future can be relevant to many people. Information regarding an outbreak of a swine flu in Mexico, for example, is relevant as being news for a world wide audience, as viral infections can travel with people across the globe.

Likewise, news about world trade and the stock market has the potential to affect the economy in many places, and so has widespread relevance.

Extraordinary Occurrences

That which is out of the ordinary and highly unusual is particularly newsworthy. People like to know about anything which is bizarre, fantastic or peculiar. If a turtle becomes the best friend of an elephant and likes to ride on the elephants back then that's news, as you just don't hear of that kind of thing very often.

Public Figures

People who are well known by the public make news. This is why reporters go to great lengths to follow prominent figures as they go about their daily lives. If a well known person actually does something interesting then this could become a great story, but simply reporting about what a popular actress is wearing can still be newsworthy, if aimed at the right audience.

Suffering

Human interest is piqued when great misfortune strikes other people. This is partly because the information has the ability to shock, but also because it tugs at the heartstrings of the audience, who may either feel empathy with the sufferer, or experience a sense of relief that such an event hasn't happened to them personally.

Severity

The amount of people that an event happens to, and the severity of impact that it has on them can determine whether news is of particular interest. If a raging fire in a library kills two hundred people then it will have more news value to a wider audience, than if only two people had a little smoke inhalation damage to their lungs after a small fire in a private house.

Controversy

Wrangling between governments, conflicts on foreign shores and demonstrations that involve disputing the handling of human rights are all possible sources of news.

Scandal

When a public figure, large company or governing body behaves in a controversial manner this often results in public outcry. In situations where moral standards have been dropped public outrage can ensue. The initial story and follow up stories about such events are generally thought to be newsworthy.

When journalists report on news which has a great impact, it makes headlines and causes readers to pause and think. Information which is newsworthy isn't easily forgotten, and may linger in readers memories for years to come.

Learn more about this author, Bridget Webber.
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