News Values

There are millions of potential stories which happen every day that could be part of the news, so journalists need a method to help them decide which stories to include.  They use a set of criteria called 'news values' to help them select stories.

Frequency
If something happens quickly and its meaning is established rapidly it is more likely to get into the news than an item which takes time to establish an understandable plot or which will evolve over time. - e.g. rape/murder
Threshold/Amplitude/Numbers
The more people affected by a news item, the more important and relevant it is to the public, so it is given more attention. - e.g. E.Coli virus
Unambiguity
The media often use stereotypes to explain stories - making people into 'goodies' and 'baddies' - to make it easy for the public to understand, so simpler stories are better to report. - e.g. Colonel Gadaffi
Meaningfulness
Culturally relevant events are more likely to make the news, as the audience is far more interested in events which happen close to home, or events which contain references to values, beliefs or attitudes that it shares. - e.g. 15 Landrovers robbed in one month in Harrogate
Consonance
Events which meet the public's expectations are more likely to become news. - e.g. the Royal wedding
Unexpectedness/Surprise
Events which hold a large element of surprise are also more likely to hit headlines and arouse public interest. - e.g. Osama Bin Laden's death
Continuity
Events which have been initially defined as news will continue to carry more weight in a news agenda than other unrelated stories. - e.g. war
Composition
News editors try to ensure a balance between home and foreign news, or make sure that there is a lighter element to a particularly upsetting/depressing bulletin. - e.g. the dead donkey story
Reference to Elite Nations
Other major Western nations are more likely to make it into the news than Third World nations, even if the events are less shocking. - e.g. the USA re-election
Reference to Elite Persons
Events which contain references to politicians, stars, royalty and so on are all more likely to become news. - e.g. Wayne Rooney's hair transplant.
Personalisation
Events which are personalised are more likely to be reported than those which have no specific individual concerned. - e.g. cancer patients discussing possible cures.
Negativity
People are interested in bad news that does not concern them; they are interested in good news that does.
Actuality
If a paper has pictures to accompany an article, the story is more likely to be reported than it would be without the pictures, because they aid the reader in comprehending the story.