by Bobby Coles

Created on: May 07, 2009   Last Updated: May 09, 2012

Journalists are taxed daily with the burden of figuring out which stories are the most newsworthy. Unless they are on a specific assignment, they must be able to accurately gauge the pulse of the nation. Some items are extremely newsworthy for a short time period, and then disappear. Some journalists like to report on stories that can be left open in hopes of a return for a follow-up story.

Newsworthy is a word that is bandied about in the field of journalism, but the definition is vague. Trends and fads are sometimes seen as newsworthy, but only for a brief capsule of time. Sometimes a story takes on a persona that is larger than life, and dominates the airwaves, such as the Michael Jackson saga.

The ability to determine newsworthiness is one of the greatest obstacles facing journalists. In a brief moment, they must determine newsworthiness. If they are wrong, their credibility may be called into question. If they are right, the accolades will come swarming down in droves.

The life of a journalist is a series of peaks and valleys, and the only control they garner is their ability to determine newsworthiness.

Major news stories are those that impact the most people demographically. If a story reaches only to the heights of a tiny village, then its effectiveness is limited. Should the story reach out to a broad spectrum of people, then it becomes newsworthy. A journalist should have an active ear to the grindstone, and should try to have their thumb on the pulse of the nation.

An effective journalist knows a story when they first encounter the information. A quick perusal of social networking websites will give an indication of what people are talking about, and what seems to matter to them at that particular moment.

The essential newsworthiness of a story is hidden beneath multiple layers of factors. News happens on different scales, from local, regional, federal, international, to global. What makes a story newsworthy to one, does not mean that it is important to all. Matters of economy relate to a certain demographic, as do news stories about festivals or crime.

As we age, stories of interest change. As a father, I see stories in a vastly different light than I did when I was a carefree bachelor. The environment has crept up in prominence over the past decade. Newsworthiness changes from one minute to the next, which makes a journalist a fad follower. If a story does not have appeal to a massive audience base at that moment, the article will be

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