What is Newsworthy?

Newsworthy

news + worthy

News (noun) = newly received information and/or significant information, especially about recent and/or important events

Worthy (adjective) = deserving effort, attention or respect

6 Factors of Newsworthiness

Timeliness

Significance

Proximity

Prominence

Human Interest

Conflict

Timeliness

The more recent, the more newsworthy

Timeliness can be relative: an event could have occurred in the past, but just have been learned about

Significance

The greater the consequence or the bigger the impact, the more newsworthy

The larger the number of people for whom the event is important, the more newsworthy

Proximity

Geographical closeness

Closeness in terms of assumed values, interest and expectations of the audience

Prominence

The more well-known the individual or institution involved, the more newsworthy (fame, celebrity)

Human Interest

Stories that appeal to emotion, such as amusement/humor, sadness

Conflict

The more controversial, the more newsworthy

Demonstrates underlying causes of disagreement