Criteria or News Worthiness

1. Identify, define, and give an example of the 6 criteria of newsworthiness.

Criteria 1: Unusualness
Definition: The different, unusual, and out-of-the ordinary news, the unusual is more often found in bad news.
Example: Airplane crashes

Criteria 2: Significance
Definition: Significant events that affect people's lives; more personal.
Example: Taxes, elections, wars, the economy

Criteria 3: Timeliness
Definition: Current news that people are interested in; not old.
Example: A flood that is currently taking place.

Criteria 4: Proximity
Definition: Nearby events
Example: New state tax law, the proposed regional highway

Criteria 5: Prominence
Definition: When well-known people, buildings, or places are involved
Example: If a movie star was arrested, it would make the news

Criteria 6: Human Interest
Definition: Stories about ordinary people or animals, humorous, or dramatic stories, heart warming or heart wrenching; an emotional and personal appeal that draws our attention.
Example: A veterinarian who specializes in elephants

2. On page 23 it discusses the differences between print journalism and broadcast journalism. Please describe 3 ways they are different and explain.
Newspapers- Readers choose what they want to read based on their interests by picking and choosing what they want to read.
News magazines- Covers a number of important stories in debt.
Radio news- Breaking news which are updated constantly and is presented by a radio host.
TV news- Dramatic news coverage presented through video; constantly updates with breaking news.

3. List all the criteria the story we watched at the beginning of class fits under and why.
Unusualness - Pigs aren't usually involved in vehicle incidents on the high way.
Timeliness - The event happened recently
Proximity - The event took place nearby

Human interest - Humans might find the story humorous

4. List all the criteria the 2nd story we watched fits under and why.
Significance - The family is looking for a home where the dogs can stay.
Timeliness- The dogs are still looking for the home.
Human Interest- People become interested and feel sympathetic towards the story.
Unusualness - 1 cant see & 1 cant hear.

5. List all the criteria the 3rd story we watched fits under and why.
Timeliness- The awards are based off of the current year.
Prominance- The celeberties are well known to most people
Human interest- Celebrities draw interest from humans who are interested in celebrities.