Define News 

What is News? 

Sometimes people working intensively on a cause or issue come to believe that any small development in their area is much more significant than it really is—at least to the general public, for whom most reporters write news stories. So as you think through a story idea, be sure to step back and ask yourself, “Is this something the public—or the audience I’m trying to reach—needs to know about or will want to know about?” If the answer is no, wait until you have more to add to your story. Again, reading newspapers, visiting Web sites, and watching the news will help give you a sense for what reporters look for in story ideas that come their way.

Clearly, there’s no simple way to describe what defines the news. But you can hone your ability to recognize and develop newsworthy story ideas by regularly reading your local and national newspapers, listening to the radio, watching broadcast and cable news, and reading news Web sites.

“The news is what I say it is.” Attributed over the years to many well-known journalists, including David Brinkley, that statement nicely sums up the subjective (which is to say, difficult) job of defining what is newsworthy. Other journalists say about news that “you know it when you see it.” Or that news is a story that makes you say “Wow!” 

Three Common Traits 

As you follow print, radio, and television news over time, you’ll notice that most stories have three common traits:

Timeliness. The story covers something happening now (a murder, a house destroyed by fire, a report just released, a bill passed by the city council, a toxic waste dump leaching into the groundwater).

Impact and implications. A local story describes how the local community will be affected. A national story describes national ramifications (and perhaps local effects too, by focusing on a particular community as an example).

Uniqueness or controversy. The story usually describes something new, different, or controversial. (And remember, the more shock value and conflict involved, the more newsworthy the item.)

When you begin formulating a story idea, make sure it has all these characteristics—timeliness, impact and implications, and uniqueness or controversy. And of course, if you’re targeting your story idea to television, make sure it’s built around visuals. If no images come to mind when you talk through your story idea, it’s not a story for television. 

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