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Elements of News and Types of News Stories| Part 1 of Chapter 2 Campus Journalism
Teacher Roxan (Momshie Roxan)
Overview
This video introduces the fundamental elements that constitute news and explores various types of news stories. It begins by illustrating how different individuals perceive and report the same event, highlighting the distinct qualities of professional journalism. The core of the video delves into the key elements that make an event newsworthy, such as conflict, significance, prominence, proximity, timeliness, sex appeal, oddity, drama, and emotion. It then categorizes news stories based on their scope (local, national, foreign), structure (straight news, news feature), chronology (spot, coverage, follow-up, advanced), treatment (fact, interview, quote, speech, action), and content (police, routine, calamity, crime, sports).
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Chapters
- News is information about recent events, presented to inform the public.
- Different people (e.g., a child, a bystander, a writer) will describe the same event with varying levels of detail, objectivity, and style.
- A professional writer's account of an event is characterized by clarity, compactness, simplicity, vividness, and dignity, making it superior for newspaper style.
- The core purpose of news is to convey factual information about recent happenings.
Understanding how different perspectives shape a news report helps learners appreciate the value of objective and concise reporting in journalism.
Comparing the accounts of a fire by a grade school pupil, a high school student, a bystander, and a professional writer to demonstrate differences in style and detail.
- Conflict, whether physical or mental, draws reader interest.
- Significance relates to how important the event is to the lives of individuals.
- Prominence is given to news involving well-known or high-status individuals.
- Proximity means events closer geographically or emotionally to the audience are more relevant.
- Immediacy or timeliness highlights the recency of an event as a key factor in its newsworthiness.
- Elements like sex, oddity, drama, and emotion add appeal by tapping into human interests and feelings.
These elements explain why certain events are covered by the media while others are not, helping learners analyze the underlying appeal of news stories.
The death of a former president like Noynoy Aquino is considered prominent news because of his status.
- News stories can be categorized by scope: local, national, or foreign.
- Straight news focuses on facts presented directly, using an inverted pyramid structure with a summary lead, aiming primarily to inform.
- News features, while fact-based, prioritize entertainment over information and often use a narrative or suspended interest structure.
Recognizing different news structures helps learners identify the primary purpose of a story (to inform vs. to entertain) and how it's organized.
A report on a local town council meeting is local news, while a story about a national election is national news.
- Spot news covers unscheduled events requiring immediate publication, often reported by eyewitnesses.
- Coverage news is gathered from a specific assigned beat.
- Follow-up news provides updates to previously reported stories.
- Advanced or anticipated news is published before an event occurs.
- Fact stories present a single situation or related facts plainly.
- Interview and quote stories are based on direct or recorded statements from individuals.
- Action stories narrate dramatic events and actions, often involving testimony and descriptions.
Understanding these classifications helps learners differentiate between immediate reporting, ongoing coverage, and different methods of presenting information.
Reporting on a car accident as it happens is spot news, while a subsequent article detailing the investigation is follow-up news.
- News content can be categorized into police reports (crime, accidents), routine stories (celebrations, elections), and calamity reports.
- Sports stories cover games and competitions.
- Minor forms include news bulletins, briefs, flashes, and featurettes, which are shorter, often more urgent, or specialized news items.
This categorization helps learners understand the diverse subject matter covered by news and the various formats used for different types of information.
A story about a robbery is a crime story, while a report on a school's graduation ceremony is a routine story.
Key takeaways
- News is defined by its recency and its ability to inform the public about recent events.
- The professional journalistic approach prioritizes clarity, conciseness, and objectivity over personal interpretation.
- Elements like conflict, significance, prominence, and proximity are crucial factors that determine an event's newsworthiness.
- Timeliness is a fundamental element, as the most recent information is generally considered the most valuable.
- News stories can be classified by their scope (local, national, foreign), structure (straight, feature), and how they are presented (chronologically, factually, through interviews).
- Understanding the different types of news stories allows for a more critical analysis of media content.
- Human interest elements such as oddity, drama, and emotion play a significant role in making news appealing to readers.
Key terms
NewsElements of NewsConflictSignificanceProminenceProximityImmediacy (Timeliness)OddityDramaStraight NewsNews FeatureInverted Pyramid StructureSpot NewsFollow-up NewsAdvanced News
Test your understanding
- What are the key differences between how a professional writer and a bystander might report the same event?
- Explain how the elements of 'significance' and 'prominence' contribute to an event becoming newsworthy.
- How does the structure of a 'straight news' story differ from that of a 'news feature'?
- Why is 'immediacy' or timeliness considered a crucial element in news reporting?
- What are the main categories used to classify news stories based on their content?