What Makes Something Newsworthy

What makes something newsworthy?

Sometimes it’s obvious what makes a news story - something attention-grabbing that everyone will talk about, whether it is an explosion at a local factory or a scandal among local politicians. But what makes the front page in The Union Tribune many times won’t even make it inside The New York Times.
Local papers have a different focus from national papers - their mission is to tell people what’s going on in their home towns. Many times, local papers will opt to give a local news story a bigger headline and better placement on the front page over an important national story. And when it’s possible, many papers try to bring some kind of local angle to national stories, either by asking area residents their opinion on the matter or by finding a local expert to comment.
Here are some of the key factors in deciding what makes a story newsworthy:

Prominence - Something that happens to a politician, public servant or a celebrity is more interesting than if it happens to someone not known by many. The marriage of the mayor, or the star player on the local university football team being arrested for fighting outside a local bar at midnight, are news.

Timeliness - An event that happened recently. A story about the prevention of sunburn is timelier at the beginning of summer than in November. Most stories in a newspaper, especially on the news pages, have a sense of timeliness. The word "news" implies information that is new.

Impact - Something that will affect a large number of readers. A bill passed in the state senate that requires all eighth graders to pass a test before they will be allowed to advance to the ninth grade has a great deal of impact on many readers. Likewise a new manufacturing plant coming to town that will employ 1,400 workers is also news.

Conflict - Events that denote a difference of opinion that puts parties in conflict are often newsworthy. Conflict usually involves surprise, tension and/or suspense. Some typical events in conflict are: sporting events, political campaigns, social issues and crime.

Novelty - Events that are unique, strange or odd. A unique event might be that a local person wins $1 million in the lottery. A strange event could be a deer running through the downtown area of a large city or a fire station catching fire.

Proximity – Stories which happen near to us have more significance. The closer the story to home, the more newsworthy it is. For someone living in France, a major plane crash in the United States has a similar news value to a small plane crash near Paris. Proximity does not have to mean geographical distance. Stories from countries with which we have a particular bond have the same effect.

Human Interest - Human interest stories are a bit of a special case. They often disregard the main rules of newsworthiness; for example, they don't date as quickly, they need not affect a large number of people, and it may not matter where in the world the story takes place. Human interest stories appeal to emotion. They aim to evoke responses such as amusement or sadness. Television news programs often place a humorous or quirky story at the end of the show to finish on a feel-good note. Newspapers often have a dedicated area for offbeat/interesting items.