Qualities of news stories

The definitions of news are changing. But these are some traditional qualities of both hard- and soft- news stories.

Timeliness

An event that happened that day of or the day before publication or is due to happen in the immediate future is considered timely. Some events that happened in the past also may be considered timely if they are printed on an anniversary of the event, such s 1, 5 or 10 years after the incident. Timeliness answers the reader’s question: Why are you telling me this now?

Proximity

An event may be of interest to local readers because it happened in or close to the community.

Unusual nature

Out-of-the-ordinary events, a bizarre or rare occurrence, or people engaged in unusual activities are considered newsworthy.

Celebrities

People who are well-known for their accomplishments – primarily entertainers, athletes or people who have gained fame for achievements, good or bad – attract a lot of attention.

Human interest

People like stories about people who have special problems, achievements or experiences. These stories can be profiles or unusual stories about people that make readers care about their plight.

Conflict

Stories involving conflicts people have with government or other people are often newsworthy, especially when the conflict reflects local problems.

Helpfulness

Consumer, health and other how-to stories help readers cope with their lives.

Entertainment

Stories that amuse readers, make them feel good or help them enjoy their leisure time have entertainment value. In a broad sense, many of the news features in sports and lifestyle sections can be classified as entertainment.

Practical Exercises:

Ex.1.Choose a newspaper to your taste. Compare its printed and online versions. What different

features did you find? (audio, video, discussion groups…). Report on the advantages of the

version you liked more.

Ex.2.Find the examples of hard, soft news, feature story, breaking news in a daily / weekly

newspaper.

Ex.3.Choose an article that you liked most of all and find the qualities listed above. Use these

questions to help you:

· Is the article timely?

· Is it interesting to a local reader only?

· Is it about a celebrity or something unusual?

· Does it involve a conflict/ human interest?

· Does it help the reader or just entertain?

Ex.4.Work in small groups. Brainstorm topics and ideas that you would want to read in an

electronic newspaper or magazine. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of reading

your newspaper or magazine on a computer screen. Report your findings to the class.