What is news? by: faith, olivia z, colson, Nick n

News

Information not previously known that is delivered through the mass media and has some impact on the audience

Gatekeeper

a label put on those individuals, such as newspaper editors and broadcast news directors, who determine what stories will be news for their communities

Timeliness

a characteristic of a news story about an event that is reported as soon as it happens

Run

To appear in the media. A story is said to run the day it appears in the media: " the story will run in the Sunday edition."

Prominence

a characteristic of a news story about someone whose name or job (such as the president of the United States) is well known and easily recognized by the public

proximity

A characteristic of a news story that happens close to home

Conflict

A characteristic of a news story that involves two sides engaged in a battle from which one will emerge the winner such as a story about war, an athletic competition, or an election

Impact

a characteristic of a news story based on the effect or consequence the story will have on the audience

Human interest

a characteristic of a news story about people, usually those involved in some emotional struggle

wire service

A membership organization that gathers news from around the world and distributes it to local members; the way most local media outlets receive national and international news

Tip

An idea for a story. A tip may come from a reporter, from the public or from a beat source.

Budget

A list of stories for the next newspaper or news broadcast. Budgets are determined by editors or producers

Top story

the most important story of the day, usually placed at the top of the front page or at the beginning of the newscast

News hole

The amount of space in the newspaper or time in a newscast available for news

News flow

the number of news stories available to run at any one time

Cut

Removed from the budget. A cut occurs when a story that is planned gets set aside because a more significant story appears before the paper is printed or the newscast is run

Deadline

The latest time a story can be finished in order to be printed in that paper or shown on that newscast

Column inch

A method of measuring space on a newspaper, yearbook or magazine page. The number of columns multiplied by the number of vertical inches in the columns equals the total number of column inches. Advertising is often sold by the column inch.

news judgement

a sense that experienced journalists develop about what events will make good news stories

Beat

A regular assignment given to reporters; a place reporters go regularly to get information, such as the courthouse, schools, the police department, or the city council

Local angle

a fact or person that connects a story which originates in another location to the local audience

Localize

to find someone or something in your community that has a tie to a story from somewhere else and then to report it in order to make the story more interesting to local readers

Futures files

a list or file containing ideas for stories and dates of upcoming events for future issues of a publication or a later newscast