Transcript What is news? - North Clackamas School District

What editors consider
Elements of News
Slide 1
What is news?
1. Come up with your own definition of
what news is to share with class.
Write this down.
2. Discuss with persons at your table.
3. As a group come up with a definition
on which all can agree. Write this
down.
4. How did the definition change?
Slide 2
5. Was it difficult to agree what news
is?
What is news?
“News is an
account of an
event which a
newspaper
prints in the
belief that by so
doing it will
profit.”
Slide 3
Curtis D. MacDougall
1938 classic
“Interpretative
Reporting”
6. How does group’s
definition compare to
MacDougall’s?
Gatekeepers
Editors* make decisions based on
criteria*
Variation of criteria wording
exists
However, reasoning is same or
similar
Control what is reported
(gatekeeping)
*Newsroom leaders
Slide 4
*A standard for judging or deciding
Newsworthy
Noteworthy as news
Topical
Having value as news
Slide 5
Deciding what’s news
7. Discuss with persons at your table
how editors (people running TV,
newspapers, etc.) decide what
stories to run.
8. List top three criteria your table
believes is important in deciding
which items make something
newsworthy.
Slide 6
Elements of News
Criteria for deciding what’s news
a)Timeliness
b)Prominence
c)Consequence
d)Proximity
e)Change / Progress / Action
Slide 7
Elements of News
Criteria for deciding what’s news
f)Concreteness / Impact
g)Personality / Human
Interest
h)Rarity / Singularity
(uniqueness)
Slide 8
i)Conflict
a) Timeliness
Something that just happened is
newsier than something that happened
a while ago
Key on the latest development, not the
original incident
It’s new, otherwise, we’d call it “olds”
Slide 9
b) Prominence
Celebrity, politician
A famous person
This does not refer to groups
A story about a teacher is not
necessarily newsworthy just because
teachers occupy a prominent place in
society
Slide 10
c) Consequence
Importance of the event.
How large number of people will/did it
an effect on?
Less consequence when affecting
fewer people.
Ask yourself how many people will be
affected.
Slide 11
d) Proximity
Local angle*
How to define?
In some cases, local local; in other
cases the whole state, region or country
Think about a bull's eye, closer to
center higher the score
Just because something happened
nearby doesn’t mean it’s newsworthy
*direction story takes, slant
Slide 12
e) Change / Progress / Action
When there is a new or different way
to do something
An advancement
Slide 13
f) Concreteness / Impact
Real, not theoretical*
“World could end tomorrow”
Death is the ultimate impact
Numbers also matter (how many)
*in theory only, not tangible
(touchable)
Slide 14
g) Personality / Human Interest
Anything that appeals to the reader’s
emotions
Makes him laugh, cry, get angry, feel
sympathy, etc….has the potential for
human interest.
“Warm and fuzzy” feeling
Slide 15
h) Rarity/Singularity
(uniqueness)
An unusual, strange occurrence
May have never happened before
The strange or unusual is fascinating to
many readers.
Related to Personality/Human Interest
Slide 16
i) Conflict
Ranges from policy disputes (politics)
To sports rivalries
To shooting wars
Any time there is a struggle
Slide 17
Examples Set 1
A. Timeliness
S1 Sarah Johnson has always
wanted a dog. Now a 10
week old puppy wiggles in
her lap, frantically trying to
lick her face.
S2 The Mustang football team
will play Wilsonville
tomorrow, hoping to
continue its win streak.
B. Prominence
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
Slide 18
I. Conflict
Examples Set 2
A. Timeliness
S3 Construction has closed school
entrances and closed portions
of parking lots, forcing
students and faculty alike to
scramble to rearrange their
normal patterns.
B. Prominence
S4 It’s been 41 years since Arnold
Palmer won the last of his
seven major
championships. But he’s still
the biggest draw.
Slide 19
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
I. Conflict
Examples Set 3
A. Timeliness
S5 Be the first to know:
"Like" the North
Clackamas Schools
Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/Nor
thClackamasSchools to
get regular posts about
NC12 schools and
community events.
B. Prominence
Slide 20
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
I. Conflict
Examples Set 4
A. Timeliness
S6 Geologists have detected a
fault zone tat stretching
about 20 miles from the
northern flank of Mt. Hood
to the Columbia River.
Hidden by trees and dense
vegetation, it had
previously gone unnoticed.
B. Prominence
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
Slide 21
I. Conflict
Examples Set 5
A. Timeliness
S7 Geologists have detected a
fault zone stretching about 20
miles from the northern flank of
Mt. Hood to the Columbia
River. Hidden by trees and
dense vegetation, it had
previously gone unnoticed.
S8 The founder of Zupan's
Markets, a grocery chain in
Oregon, has died, following a
hit-and-run crash.
B. Prominence
Slide 22
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
I. Conflict
Examples Set 6
A. Timeliness
S9 People in one Tigard
neighborhood are fighting the
city to keep a beaver dam in
place.
S10 A former bathroom in the
nation's oldest public park is
being converted into a
sandwich shop.
B. Prominence
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
Slide 23
I. Conflict
Examples Set 7
A. Timeliness
S11On September 25, 11
teams will test their mettle
on The Amazing Race. One
of the contestants this year
is farmer and rancher Bill
Alden, 63, of Albany, Ore.
S12 Crews work to protect
historic Mt Hood buildings
from wildfire.
B. Prominence
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
Slide 24
I. Conflict
Examples Set 8
A. Timeliness
S13 A top official in China's
turbulent Xinjiang region said
security forces have defused a
number of threats to public
safety in recent weeks but is
providing few details.
B. Prominence
S14 MAX turns 25 on Friday, with
TriMet celebrations planned in
Portland and Gresham.
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
Slide 25
I. Conflict
Examples Set 9
A. Timeliness
S15 Karen Grondin recently
opened Grapevine
Graphics and Picture
Framing at Singer Hill Cafe
and Desserts at 623
Seventh St.
B. Prominence
S16 A house fire in Damascus
is estimated to have
caused $150,000 worth of
damage.
Slide 26
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
I. Conflict
Examples Set 10
A. Timeliness
S17 Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley is prepared to fully
the support the Portland
City Council if it chooses to
request a waiver from the
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s
requirement to replace the
city’s five open reservoirs.
B. Prominence
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
Slide 27
I. Conflict
Examples Set 11
A. Timeliness
S18 It’s been 10 years since
terrorists attacked New York’s
Twin Towers and the
Pentagon and passengers
foiled another attack by
crashing a plane into a
Pennsylvania field.
S19 More than two decades since
the great-grandmother’s first
skydive, Frankie Bryant, 69,
still loves the sensation of
falling through the skies.
B. Prominence
Slide 28
C. Consequence
D. Proximity
E. Change
F. Concreteness
G. Personality
H. Rarity
I. Conflict
Always a balancing act
Stories having more elements of news
have stronger newsworthiness
But there are gradations within each
category
Bigger & smaller celebrities; bigger &
smaller impacts; bigger & smaller
conflicts
Slide 29
Who are our readers?
Local paper
Traditional values
Homogeneous* vs. heterogeneous*
Sports/outdoors
*Same mix throughout
*Different throughout
Slide 30
Three goals of journalism
Inform
Educate
Entertain
31
Goal of publisher*
Make money!
* A person or company owning a
news organization
Slide 32