*This page contains information shared during a presentation delivered Jan. 30, 2014, to a Media Writing class at the University of Kansas.*
“Whenever you find yourself laughing at a situation, shaking your head or saying to someone, ‘Listen to this,’ you’ve probably got a story.” — Ken Fusion, Des Moines Register
What is news? It’s a question that has both a simple and more complicated answer. But any discussion about news should start with a list. That’s right: the dreaded list. But we won’t BuzzFeed you to death here. It’s a 7-item, 7-word gathering of news values, and they’ll help you determine whether a story is newsworthy. Once we have an understanding of those quick concepts, we may begin to discuss how to find news, where to find news and how to present news. The seven news values are pasted below. Beyond that, though, please feel free to click through the presentation I delivered and browse other documents, links and videos I’ve provided here. Many of the resources I reference are here, in addition to other stuff you may find useful.
As always, if you have questions, please feel free to contact me at cmdonohue@gmail.com.
Seven News Values
- Impact — Does the story matter to your readers? What its effect on them?
- Immediacy — When did the story happen? Timeliness is an important factor.
- Proximity — Did the story happen close to home? Is it local? Is there psychological proximity?
- Prominence — Does the story include a well-known figure? Is the person recognizable?
- Novelty — Is there a newness to the story? Something odd or unusual?
- Conflict — Are people fighting? Is it a political battle? Is there a clash?
- Emotions — How does the story make your audience feel? Happy? Sad? Angry?
Below is the full presentation I delivered.
I linked to a couple of videos in the presentation. Those are embedded below, along with a couple of other humorous takes on the media you may enjoy.
Associated Press — How to Pitch a Story
Incarceration in America Intro Video
Louis CK Hates Twitter
Hannibal Buress Talks about EIU Visit
Below are links to projects and documents you may find helpful and/or worth viewing.
Kansas Students & Profanity Tickets
Developing Story Ideas (PDF)
Research Thinking (PDF)
Fatal Distraction by Gene Weingarten
Mrs. Kelly’s Monster by Jon Franklin
And finally, let’s listen to some music. I have students every semester tweet links to their favorite Songs that Tell a Story. Below are links to a couple of Spotify playlists of those selections. Songs do a great job of revealing conflict and emotion–perhaps the two most important news values. They also use vivid imagery, colorful language and clever turns of phrase.
Storytelling Songs Playlist (from Fall 2013)
Storytelling Songs Playlist (from Spring 2013)
And here’s the song I play in class to drive the point home. It’s Common’s “A Retrospect for Life.” There’s a clear message at play in the song. I’m not sharing this to drive home a political/social point of view. I’m sharing it so you may see the internal and external conflict at play in the piece.
Other works I consulted for information:
- “Reporting for the Media” by John R. Bender, Lucinda D. Davenport, Michael W. Drager and Fred Fedler
- “Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide to the Craft of Journalism” by Tim Harrower
- “Producing Online News: Digital Skills, Stronger Stories” by Ryan M. Thornburg
- “Workbook for News Reporting and Writing” by the Missouri Group
- “The Multimedia Journalist” by Jennifer George-Palilonis
- “JournalismNext” by Mark Briggs