What is News 新闻的定义.docx

What is News 新闻的定义.docx

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WhatisNews新闻的定义

WhatisNews?

Newsdependsonavarietyoffactors

HandbookofIndependentJournalism

（ThefollowingarticleistakenfromtheU.S.DepartmentofStatepublication,HandbookofIndependentJournalism.）

ByDeborahPotter

Theanswertothequestion“Whatisnews?

”mayseemobvious. Newsiswhatisnew;it’swhat’shappening. Lookitupinthedictionary,andyou’llfindnewsdescribedas“areportofrecenteventsorpreviouslyunknowninformation.” Butmostofthethingsthathappenintheworldeverydaydon’tfindtheirwayintothenewspaperorontotheairinanewscast.

Sowhatmakesastorynewsworthyenoughtobepublishedorbroadcast?

 Therealansweris,itdependsonavarietyoffactors. Generallyspeaking,newsisinformationthatisofbroadinteresttotheintendedaudience,sowhat’sbignewsinBuenosAiresmaynotbenewsatallinBaku. Journalistsdecidewhatnewstocoverbasedonmanyofthefollowing“newsvalues”:

Timeliness

Didsomethinghappenrecentlyordidwejustlearnaboutit?

 Ifso,thatcouldmakeitnewsworthy. Themeaningof“recently”variesdependingonthemedium,ofcourse. Foraweeklynewsmagazine,anythingthathappenedsincethepreviouseditiontheweekbeforemaybeconsideredtimely. Fora24-hourcablenewschannel,thetimeliestnewsmaybe“breakingnews,”orsomethingthatishappeningthisveryminuteandcanbecoveredbyareporterliveatthescene.

Impact

Aremanypeopleaffectedorjustafew?

 Contaminationinthewatersystemthatservesyourtown’s20,000peoplehasimpactbecauseitaffectsyouraudiencedirectly. Areportthat10childrenwerekilledfromdrinkingpollutedwateratasummercampinadistantcityhasimpacttoo,becausetheaudienceislikelytohaveastrongemotionalresponsetothestory. Thefactthataworkercutautilitylineisnotbignews,unlessithappenstocauseablackoutacrossthecitythatlastsforseveralhours.

Proximity

Didsomethinghappenclosetohome,ordiditinvolvepeoplefromhere?

 AplanecrashinChadwillmakeheadlinesinN'Djamena,butit’sunlikelytobefront-pagenewsinChileunlesstheplanewascarryingChileanpassengers.

Controversy

Arepeopleindisagreementaboutthis?

 It’shumannaturetobeinterestedinstoriesthatinvolveconflict,tension,orpublicdebate. Peopleliketotakesides,andseewhosepositionwillprevail. Conflictdoesn’talwaysentailpittingoneperson’sviewsagainstanother. Storiesaboutdoctorsbattlingdiseaseorcitizensopposinganunjustlawalsoinvolveconflict.

Prominence

Isawell-knownpersoninvolved?

 Ordinaryactivitiesormishapscanbecomenewsiftheyinvolveaprominentpersonlikeaprimeministerorafilmstar. ThatplanecrashinChadwouldmakeheadlinesaroundtheworldifoneofthepassengerswereafamousrockmusician.

Currency

Arepeopleheretalkingaboutthis?

 Agovernmentmeetingaboutbussafetymightnotdrawmuchattention,unlessithappenstobescheduledsoonafteraterriblebusaccident. Anincidentatafootballmatchmaybeinthenewsforseveraldaysbecauseit’sthemaintopicofconversationintown.

Oddity

Iswhathappenedunusual?

 Asthesayinggoes,“Ifadogbitesaman,thatisnotnews.Butifamanbitesadog,it'snews!

” Theextraordinaryandtheunexpectedappealtoournaturalhumancuriosity.

Whatmakesnewsalsodependsonthemakeupoftheintendedaudience,notjustwheretheylivebutwhotheyare. Differentgroupsofpeoplehavedifferentlifestylesandconcerns,whichmaketheminterestedindifferenttypesofnews. Aradionewsprogramtargetedatyoungerlistenersmightincludestoriesaboutmusicorsportsstarsthatwouldnotbefeaturedinabusinessnewspaperaimedatolder,wealthierreaders. Aweeklymagazinethatcoversmedicalnewswouldreportonthetestingofanexperimentaldrugbecausethedoctorswhoreadthepublicationpresumablywouldbeinterested. Butunlessthedrugisbelievedtocureawell-knowndisease,mostgeneral-interestlocalnewspaperswouldignorethestory. Theexceptionmightbethenewspaperinthecommunitywheretheresearchisbeingconducted.

Newsorganizationsseetheirworkasapublicservice,sonewsismadeupofinformationthatpeopleneedtoknowinordertogoabouttheirdailylivesandtobeproductivecitizensinademocracy. Butmostnewsorganizationsalsoarebusinessesthathavetomakeaprofittosurvive,sothenewsalsoincludesitemsthatwilldrawanaudience:

storiespeoplemaywanttoknowaboutjustbecausethey’reinteresting. Thosetwocharacteristicsneednotbeinconflict. Someofthebeststoriesonanygivenday,infact,arebothimportantandinteresting. Butit’sfairlycommonfornewsorganizationstodividestoriesintotwobasiccategories:

hardnewsandsoftnews,alsocalledfeatures.

WheretheNewsComesFrom

Journalistsfindnewsinallsortsofplaces,butmoststoriesoriginateinoneofthreebasicways:

•naturallyoccurringevents,likedisastersandaccidents;

•plannedactivities,likemeetingsandnewsconferences;

•reporters’enterprise.

Unplannedeventsfrequentlybecomemajornewsstories. Aferrysinking,aplanecrash,atsunami,oramudslideisnewsworthynotjustwhenithappensbutoftenfordaysandweeksafterwards. Theextentofthecoveragedependsinpartonproximityandwhowasinvolved. AfatalautomobileaccidentinParismightnotbebignewsonanygivenday. ButanaccidentinParisin1997wasahugenewsstory,notjustinFrancebutalsoaroundtheworld,becauseoneofthevictimswasBritain’sPrincessDiana.

Citizenswhowitnessadisasterwilloftencontactanewsorganization. Journalistsalsolearnabouttheseeventsfromfirstresponders:

police,fire,orrescueofficials. Insomecountries,newsorganizationsareabletomonitoremergencycommunicationsbetweenfirstrespondersandcandispatchjournaliststothescenequicklysotheycanwatchthestoryunfold.

Inmanynewsrooms,themostobvioussourceofnewsisthedailyscheduleofeventsintown,whichincludesgovernmentmeetings,businessopenings,orcommunityevents. Oftencalleda“daybook,”thislistofactivitiesisnotautomaticallynewsworthybutitprovidesagoodstartingpointforreporterssearchingfornews. Reporterswhoregularlycoverspecifickindsofissuesorinstitutions,alsocalled“beat”reporters,saytheyoftengetstoryideasbylookingatagendasforupcomingmeetings.

Pressreleasescanbeanothersourceofnews,butagain,theyarejustastartingpoint. Dozensofpressreleasesarriveinnewsroomseveryday,bymail,byfax,orevenonvideoviasatellite. Governmentofficialsandagenciesgeneratemanyofthem,butotherlargeorganizationslikeprivatebusinessesandnon-profitgroupsalsoissuepressreleasestoletthenewsmediaknowwhattheyaredoing. Apressreleasemayresembleanewsstorybutbecauseitisproducedbysomeonewithavestedinterestinthesubjectitisnotlikelytotellthecompletestory. Pressreleasesmaybefactuallycorrect,buttheyusuallyincludeonlythosefactsthatreflectpositivelyonthepersonororganizationfeaturedintherelease. Evenifapressreleaselooksnewsworthy,aprofessionaljournalistfirstmustverifyitsauthenticity,andthenbeginaskingquestionstodeterminetherealstorybeforedecidingifit’sworthreporting.

Stagedevents,suchasdemonstrations,alsocanproducenews,butjournalistsmustbewaryofbeingmanipulatedbytheorganizerswhowanttotellonlytheirsideofthestory. Politicianshavebecomeadeptatstagingeventsand“photoopportunities”inordertoattractcoverage,evenwhentheyhavenorealnewsvalue. Thatdoesnotmeanjournalistsshouldignoretheseevents,butonlythattheyneedtodoadditionalreportingtogetacompletestory.

Mostreporterssaytheirbeststoriescomefromtheirownenterprise. Sometimesstorysuggestionscomefromstrangers,whomayvisit,telephone,ore-mailthenewsroomwithacomplaintorconcern. Somenewsorganizationsactivelysolicitideasfrompeoplewholiveinthecommunitiestheyserve,byprovidingatelephonenumberorane-mailaddresswheresuggestionscanbesubmitted.  Journalistsspendalotoftimebuildingrelationshipswithpeoplewhocanprovidethemwithinformation. （We’lltalkmoreaboutsourcebuildinginChapter2,“GettingtheStory.”）

Journalistsfrequentlyfindstoriessimplybylookingaroundandlisteningtowhatpeoplearetalkingabout. Whatyouoverhearatasportseventorinlineatthepostofficecouldturnintoanewsstory. Askthepeopleyoumeetwhenyouarenotcoveringastorywhatisgoingonintheirlivesortheirneighborhoodsandyoumightfindyourselfonthetrailofanewsstorynooneelsehascovered.

Anotherwaytofindnewsistoaskwhathashappenedsincethelasttimeastorywasinthepaperorontheair. Follow-upsoftenleadtosurprisingdevelopmentsthatareevenmorenewsworthythantheoriginalreport. Forexample,astoryaboutafirethedayafterithappenedmighttellyouhowmanypeoplewerekilledandtheextentofthepropertydamage. Butafollow-upseveralweekslatercoulddiscoverthatafaultyradiosystemmadeitimpossibleforfirefighterstorespondquicklyenoughtosavemorelives.

Documents,data,andpublicrecordscanleadtoterrificstoriesaswell. Reporterscanusethemtolookfortrendsortospotirregularities. Thiskindofworkrequiresmoreeffort,buttheresultsarealmostalwaysworththetrouble. It’sconsiderablyeasierwhenthedataaremadeavailableelectronically,ofcourse,butreportershavebeenknowntoenterdatafrompaperrecordsintocomputerdatabaseprogramsjustsotheycansearchforthemostsignificantinformationinapileofstatistics.