News are events in the lives of people which affect them or their environment. The news media – newspapers, magazines, radio and television – aim to inform and educate their readers/listeners/viewers about these events. They can also entertain them, but this is more usually in other ways – music and drama on the radio; cartoons and crosswords in newspapers.
A story becomes news when it is new, unusual, interesting, significant and about people. The first of these criteria, newness, means that an event must be happening at the moment. An event which has happened a week ago cannot be news, even if it was very significant at the time. The second criterion, unusualness, suggests that an event must be out of the ordinary. Hence, a plane crash in the middle of the ocean is much more newsworthy than an earthquake in your back garden.
The third criterion, interest, means that an event must be important to a large number of people or society as a whole. This is why a political coup is so newsworthy – it affects many more people than a local council meeting. The fourth criterion, significance, means that an event has a high degree of impact or importance. The impact or importance can be physical, emotional or social. It may cause fear, concern, alarm or pleasure.
Often a newspaper will report on events which have an effect on the whole nation, such as political crises or wars. This is because national papers are aimed at a wider audience than local ones. In this way they must be able to relate to more of the population’s concerns.
People are interested in stories about other people, especially famous people. They want to know what these people do, how they look, where they live and what they think. They are also interested in their relationships, notably those of marriage and divorce. They are also interested in the health of their friends and relatives, so news stories about hospitals, clinics, diseases and treatments are of interest. They are also interested in food and drink – e.g. price changes, shortages or gluts, the quality of food and drinks. They are interested in sport – whether it be local or major events such as the Olympics.
Some writers suggest that a theory of news values, like that put forward by Galtung and Ruge, should be applied to the study of published outputs to identify factors which influence what makes news. Others argue that arbitrary factors such as luck, convenience and serendipity play an equally important part in what happens to be published (Westerhahl and Johansson 1994, 71). Both arguments have some validity. However, a great deal of research is still needed to explore what actually does or does not make the news. This should include study of both scholarly work and published outputs in different societies with the goal of finding a more comprehensive explanation of what does or does not happen to be newsworthy.