7. Newsworthiness (1): The Traditional Version

Traditionally, newsworthiness is a collection of news values that mainstream news editors look for when assigning reporters--or it's how they decide what to put on the front page. Below, a standard list of news values, but a warning: it's not a pretty sight. Traditional news editors often manipulate interest by hyping their stories with some of these elements:

• Timeliness: Freshness matters; it's the new in news.

• Conflict/Crisis/Catastrophe: Negatives are newsworthy.

• Impact: The more people impacted, the greater the news value.

• Visibility: More value is attributed to issues and people that are in the spotlight.
  

• Proximity: One home-grown crook trumps 10 in Kazakhstan.

• Bizarreness or shock-value: Michael Jackson; Man Bites Dog.