News Values

News values, sometimes called news criteria, determine how much prominence a news story is given by a media outlet, and the attention it is given by the audience. News values are not universal and can vary widely between different cultures.

Decisions on the selection and prioritization of news are made by editors on the basis of their experience and intuition, although several factors are consistently applied across a range of news organizations; news values themselves are the same no matter which TV company or newspaper you work for but different companies place priority on different news values.

List of widely used news values:
1. Frequency - The more similar the frequency of the event is to the frequency of the news medium, the more likely it is to be recorded - and the details are quickly established.

2. Threshold/amplitude/numbers - The size of an event will govern the amount of attention it is given. E.g. World Cup

3. Unambiguity - The simplicity of a story will also make it more attractive to the media as it will be easier for the journalist to investigate and easier for the audience to understand.

4. Meaningfulness - Culturally relevant or culturally prominate events are more likely to make the news. The news audience is far more interested in events which have happened close to home or events which contain references to values, beliefs and attitudes that it shares. E.g. Elections in home country.

5. Consonance - Events which meet our expectations are more likely to become news.

6. Unexpected/surprise - Conversely, events which hold a large element of surprise are also more likely to hit the headlines. E.g. murder etc

7. Continuity - Events which have initially been defined as news will continue to carry importance in news agenda. E.g. An ongoing war.

8. Composition - Most news organisations try to balance their news output. Often, news editors will try and ensure that a balance of home and foreign news is preserved or that there is an element of lighter news within a news bulletin to make it less depressing. Hence, the 'dead donkey' story at the end of the news bulletins. These stories would not in other circumstances be considered as newsworthy.

9. Reference to elite nations - Other major Western nations such as the USA, Germany, France are more likely to get in the news even if it is perhaps only one person being killed than are Third World nations.

10. Reference to elite persons - As above, major Western figures of importance are more likely to get in the news moreso than Thirld World leaders.

11. Personalisation - Events which are peronalised are more likely to be reported than those which have no specific individual concerned - these stories are more common in tabloids than broadsheets.

12. Negativity - Bad news makes good news!

Relatively new compared to the rest of the list:
13. Actuality - If a news station has some video, a newspaper has a picture or a radio station has a soundbite of an event then this story is more likely to be reported than those without.

Overall, news is a construction by the editor selecting what is worthy or not.