News is a form of communication. It is information about something that is new and different. The value of this information varies in each society.
Usually, a news story is about people and things that are happening. A good news story has positive overtones while a bad news story has negative overtones. These overtones can affect how the story is judged.
Stories involving conflict and a large loss of life have a stronger impact on readers. People also take an interest in confrontation among groups. Similarly, a story that has a larger personality involved in it has greater news value.
Another important factor in news is its place of origin. Different societies are more interested in different topics. For example, in the U.K., Imran Khan’s marriage is a much more interesting news than a 90-year-old man who still takes a bus.
There are also subjective influences. These include the mix of educational, cultural, and ideological influences that influence how a story is viewed. Some governments, for example, impose constraints on news organizations to avoid bias.
The newsworthiness of a story is determined by the balance of six values. Those values include: proximity, magnitude, entertainment, human interest, and surprise.
Proximity refers to the geographical closeness of an event. This could be a local incident or a national one. Whether or not the event is in close proximity to a reader’s home is another factor that determines the newsworthiness of the story.