Why is this News News Gathering News Judgment

Why is this News? News Gathering

News Judgment Is it important? Is it interesting? How do you know?

Because you are constantly asking one question: Who cares?

To decide “who cares” … Use the RULE OF EIGHT news values, or factors in news judgment. Journalists use these to find stories and decide what questions to ask in research and interviews.

Rule of Eight News Values 1. Timeliness / Immediacy News is what’s happening NOW, or at least recently. 2. Proximity News happens close to home, or close to the heart. 3. Impact / Consequence News matters to people because it can affect their lives.

Rule of Eight News Values 4. Prominence / Celebrity Well-known people are talked about; they make news. 5. Conflict When people fight or disagree, often that’s news. 6. Oddity / Rarity / Novelty News can be weird. Or odd. Or something that rarely ever happens.

Rule of Eight News Values 7. Human Interest / Emotion When something or someone makes you laugh or cry or get angry or truly amazes you, that’s news. 8. Currency Sometimes it’s news just because a lot of people are talking about it.

Rule of Eight News Values As we go through each news value, consider story ideas or examples that would be newsworthy based on each of the factors.

Timeliness News stories require immediacy in reporting. Breaking news stories have timeliness, and news organizations compete to be the first to report these stories – and each subsequent development. What are some examples from this week or last week?

Timeliness - Today’s weather and traffic reports - Election results - Upcoming homecoming game - Human or tropical disasters

Proximity The closer the story hits home, the more important the news is. “Proximity” is the word journalists use to mean, this happened here. What are some examples of news that happens in our school or community?

Proximity - Often, scholastic publications will look to “localize” stories that have a national scope to increase the value of proximity. Who cares about last night’s high school game? (local) Who cares about yesterday’s college game? (local or national) Who cares about the Super Bowl? (national or international)

Consequence / Impact Some news has a direct impact on people’s lives or consequences for them. Sometimes, you can localize a national story to emphasize the impact of far-away news to your readers. What matters to our readers?

Consequence / Impact Look at how a national news story could be an important story for a school publication. National story: The foreclosure rate of homeowners increased significantly during the past year. School angle: The student council president, starting quarterback, and half of cheerleading squad were forced to transfer to other schools after losing their homes due to foreclosure.

Consequence / Impact National story: Tornadoes ravage several towns in Oklahoma last week. School angle: Student body raises over $10, 000 to help with relief efforts, or local family brings in family that lost everything due to tornados ravaging Oklahoma.

Prominence / Celebrity This isn’t just for famous people. Some people are well-known just within a certain community. Think beyond the obvious choices. Some students and faculty have prominence in certain groups that go unnoticed by other groups. Who is prominent in our school?

Prominence / Celebrity Who might be prominent figures within our school community? - Principal - Star athlete - Teacher of the year (state or national) - Child of a celebrity or politician - That kid who is always in the hall and never in class

Conflict Disagreements make news. Readers love stories that provide a debate or reveal a difference of opinion -- especially on issues important to them. What kinds of stories have conflict? Remember to cover all sides, especially when covering high school sports.

Conflict Here are some possible clashes suitable for scholastic news coverage. - Rivalries (sports coverage) - Administration vs. students - Juniors vs. seniors - Conservatives vs. liberals

Novelty / Oddity / Rarity Sometimes, students or teachers offer rare or unusual experiences, traits or talents that make for interesting, off-beat stories. These are often the most e-mailed and shared stories of the day or week for news sites. Who in our school did something rare, phenomenal or amazing?

Novelty / Oddity / Rarity Consider these past stories that captured the attention of the media: - Alligator found in New York sewers - Spud Webb wins 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest (he is 5 ft. 7 in. ) - Octomom, mother of 15 kids, may lose home before Christmas

Novelty / Oddity / Rarity This category also encompasses the novelty of “firsts” or “the few. ” Consider these female athletes who dominate in male sports: - Mo’ne Davis, the Little League World Series fastball pitching phenom - Erin Dimeglio, quarterback for the South Plantation High School football team

Human Interest These stories tap into the humanity of their subjects and those who read about them by focusing on the feelings they evoke. Often, a good human interest story is found hidden within the ordinary. Consider these: - Students cheat on a test. - Teacher loans a student $2 for lunch. - Principal buys a new car. - Man takes candy away from kids.

Human Interest Now consider these: - Teacher cheats by providing answers on state test to students. - Teacher, whose parents charity turkeys at Thanksgiving when he was a child, donates 20 turkeys to holiday food drive. - Principal buys a Lamborghini. - Teacher arrested for stealing Halloween candy from neighborhood kindergarten students. What type of feelings or emotions would these stories evoke?

Currency Stories that have currency capture the public’s interest in some way. Some stories dominate for an intense day or week, others remain current for a wide range of time. Often these stories seem overblown or draw complaint that they aren’t really news, such as the birthday of the royal baby or Miley Cyrus twerking on national TV.

Currency Other current topics are those that come up over and over again, such as: • • Partisanship in government Concussions in sports Climate change Gay marriage Currency also covers anniversary stories, such as the 100 th anniversary of events in World War II or the 50 th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.

Rule of 8 News Values 1. Is it timely or immediate? (timeliness) 2. Is it happening nearby? (proximity) 3. Does it affect the readers or viewers, or have some consequence for their lives? (impact/consequence) 4. Is it about someone who is well known? (prominence/celebrity) 5. Is it odd, rare, weird, a “first” or otherwise outside the ordinary? (oddity/rarity/novelty) 6. Is it about a conflict or disagreement, or the continuation of one? (conflict) 7. Does it tug at the heart strings? (human interest) 8. Is it something everyone is talking about in social media or other news media? (currency)

What’s the news value? This is a question every reporter should ask on every story. The best reporters keep digging to find multiple values in their stories. Consider this story from the 2013 SEC football season: Auburn defeated first-place Alabama 34 -28 as Auburn senior Chris Davis returned Alabama’s missed field goal 109 yards, thus ending Alabama’s reign as the top-ranked team in the nation. With the win, Auburn now has a chance at the national championship game, while Alabama faces losing its No. 1 position.

Currency? This game was part of an overall discussion on the chase for the national championship, which in turn opened discussion on how the NCAA determines who plays in a national championship game and who gets left out. This topic comes up every football season.

Timeliness? It is a football moment. The story becomes less timely as the week and season ends. However, as with many historical moments, it will resurface as newsworthy when Alabama plays Auburn again, or whenever an underdog overthrows a topranked team.

Proximity? If you are a student at or a fan of the University of Alabama or Auburn, yes. If you’re a student at any SEC university, or any of the Top 10, the proximity of this story is clear. There areas of the country where the passion for college football is intense. It is safe to assume that this story has a nationwide proximity.

Prominence? After that play, Auburn’s Chris Davis became one of the game’s most prominent players. The quarterback of the losing team was vying for a third straight national championship and a Heisman trophy. The game featured two teams playing in what many experts see as the prominent conference, the SEC.

Conflict? Sport stories usually involve conflict. This was the Iron Bowl, one of the great rivalries in college football. But there’s more: The quarterback for Alabama, AJ Mc. Carron, was shown kissing his mother and his girlfriend after losing to Auburn. Guess what school his girlfriend graduated from? Auburn. More conflict: The outcome of the game brought out debate from other teams as to who should advance into the national championship game.

Consequence? For those who value college football, the consequence of this game’s outcome was apparent. Several teams, mainly Ohio State and Florida State, saw their chances of making it to a national championship game increase. But for most people? It didn’t matter that much.

Novelty? As mentioned earlier, AJ Mc. Carron, the quarterback for Alabama, was dating a graduate of Auburn. This storyline was exposed before the game and afterward as he kissed her before leaving the field following the loss.

Human Interest? Several human interest stories spun out from this game. The new star for Auburn. The fan reactions from both teams. The moments leading to the play and afterward, it was clear to see thrill (and shock) of victory and the agony (and shock) of defeat.

Discussion What news value do you think dominates this story? What least dominates?

What’s the news value? In March 2014, this story made the front page in Chicago area newspapers and national headlines across the nation. A Chicago Area Transit train carrying hundreds of travelers derailed and continued up the escalators at O’Hare International Airport after it failed to stop at the end of the platform, injuring 32 people, none seriously.

Currency? Because the L-train actually climbed an escalator, this story was current for a short while. It most likely becomes part of a larger discussion on transportation safety and driver scheduling, since the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The story does not dominate public discourse as would other stories related to terrorism, gun control or health care.

Timeliness? As this train derailment occurred, it was breaking news, and it stayed in the news for a few weeks in Chicago, where travelers were inconvenienced by the closing of the commuter station at O’Hare Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world.

Proximity? This was a national story, but definitely more significant in Chicago and for people who traveled in and out of Chicago.

Prominence? No celebrities or public figures were on the train when it derailed, so no.

Conflict? While the initial moment of the derailment shows no conflict, later several of the passengers who were injured filed lawsuits.

Consequence? The impact centered on the O’Hare Airport and the travelers who were inconvenienced, as well as on the passengers who were injured. An additional impact will be felt by Chicagoland taxpayers and train riders as the Chicago Transit Authority recoups the estimated $6 million cost of the damage to the train and station.

Novelty? This is the main reason this story made the news beyond Chicago: The train lept off the tracks and traveled up an escalator before it stopped.

Human Interest? Since no one was seriously injured and the inconvenience to travelers was quickly minimized as the CTA opened an emergency bus service from O’Hare to the nearest train station, the only remaining human interest was the train driver, who admitted to falling to sleep at the wheel because she had worked a lot of overtime recently.

Discussion What news value do you think dominates this story? What least dominates?

Assignment 1 Find two stories, each from a different section of an newspaper or online news site. Read the articles and complete the news judgment analysis handout.

Assignment 2 Choose a recent story that you wrote and consider a story that you would like to cover. Use the news judgment evaluation sheet and evaluate the news value of your work. Novelty Consequence Conflict Proximity Timeliness Vocab Word Bank: Human Interest Currency “Who Cares” method Prominence News Judgment