These are key characteristics of a news story:
- Timeliness – Happening right now, or recently
- Proximity – Happening close-by
- Impact – The greater the number of people affected, the newsier
- Conflict – Any disagreement in a community is news
- Celebrity/Prominence — The more famous or important the person, the newsier the story.
- Oddity – “News of the Weird” or something that is rare or special
- Frequency – Stuff that happens all the time is worth exploring, too. Sometimes called “process stories” or commemoration of regular events.
- Human Interest — Just interesting, often emotional, stories about people’s lives that readers can relate to.
As we discussed, the more of these qualities a story has, the more newsworthy it is.
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