WHAT IS NEWS?A look at news values & news judgment

Colin DonohueJan. 30, 2014

WHAT IS NEWS?

• How to pitch a news story?

• http://youtu.be/Vut4gPPzEac

• But how do you get to that point?

WHAT IS NEWS?

• “Whenever you find yourself laughing at a situation, shaking your head or saying to someone, 'Listen to this,' you've probably got a story.” -- Ken Fuson, Des Moines Register

WHAT IS NEWS?• News Judgment

• Several ways to define elements of a newsworthy story. Here are seven:

• Impact• Immediacy• Proximity• Prominence• Novelty• Conflict• Emotions

PROXIMITY

PROXIMITY

PROXIMITY

CONFLICT

http://www.cdonohue.com/incarcerationinamerica

Kansas students express concern over profanity tickets issued by police:

http://www.splc.org/news/newsflash.asp?id=2651

CONFLICT

http://youtu.be/a8ecUF9vWGk

EMOTIONS• “The charge in the courtroom was manslaughter, brought by

the Commonwealth of Virginia. No significant facts were in dispute. Miles Harrison, 49, was an amiable person, a diligent businessman and a doting, conscientious father until the day last summer -- beset by problems at work, making call after call on his cellphone -- he forgot to drop his son, Chase, at day care. The toddler slowly sweltered to death, strapped into a car seat for nearly nine hours in an office parking lot in Herndon in the blistering heat of July.

• It was an inexplicable, inexcusable mistake, but was it a crime? That was the question for a judge to decide.”

EMOTIONS

• “Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a child in the backseat of a car is a horrifying mistake. Is it a crime?”

• by Gene Weingarten

• Pulitzer Prize winner for Feature Writing in 2010: http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2010-Feature-Writing

THAT’S NICE, BUT …

• How do we find stories? What should we write about it?

• Be curious.

• Ask why.

• And five more tips ...

DEVELOPING STORY IDEAS

1. Regularly ask, “Am I writing a story that reflects the entire community?”

2. Brainstorm around a single topic.

3. Ask yourself what the people in your community are talking about.

4. On a Monday, ask people what they did over the weekend.

5. Look at the big picture and the small picture.

EVERGREEN TOPICS• Consider “evergreen” topics

• Cars, licenses, license plates, car taxes, gas prices, parking

• Profiles about famous alumni/community members

• Fitness of local fire department and ability to respond

• Health scores of dining halls

• Student mental health

• Concerns of living in a digital age

• How tuition money is spent

• Internet connectivity in rural areas

• Sexual assault on college campuses

EVERGREEN TOPICS

• Let’s take a look at health scores of dining halls.

• If we wanted to create a story map of that idea, what stories would come from it?

IS YOUR IDEA ANY GOOD?

• Where did the idea come from?

• Is the idea original?

• Does the idea surprise you?

• Is there tension?

WHERE TO GO?• Looking for story ideas? Where can you go?

• Area, regional and national news sources

• Internet

• PR people

• Community members

• The landscape/environment

• Community calendars

• National news outlets to localize stories

• Your friends

• http://www.collegemediamatters.com/2013/11/15/1-million-story-ideas-for-student-journalists/

WHAT IS NEWS?

• David Brinkley said, “There’s a tired old cliche that news is about a man biting a dog. That’s silly. News is something worth knowing, something you didn’t know already.”

THANK YOU

• I have made this presentation, its contents and other enrichment material available at this private link: http://www.cdonohue.com/what-is-news/.