NEWS

             His heart pounding against his ribcage, he ran as if his life was on the line. Puffing, panting and sweating profusely he reached Athens and collapsed. But not before he had passed on the all important message of Persian defeat at Marathon and their subsequent mounting invasion on Athens. Phidiphides had delivered the biggest ‘breaking NEWS’ of Ancient Greece.

            Since time immemorial NEWS has been a very important aspect for human societies. In fact Kautilya ‘s Arthashastra, the wise treatise on administration from Ancient India, underscored the importance for NEWS and suggested development of a professional cadre called ‘Spas’ for delivering it. The great Emperor Ashok used his ingenuity and installed Edicts at prominent places to convey important information to people and Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi, instituted a vigorous information system to keep him abreast with his economic reforms.

What is NEWS?

            Basically NEWS is giving of information which is relevant to the receiver through various media such as print, radio, television, internet etc. It aims to inform, educate and entertain the audience. Interestingly the term News was coined by taking first alphabets from

North,

East,

West and

South

It implies the huge canvass for information that can be News worthy.

What makes information News worthy?

            In today’s age of Globalization, where the World is inextricably interlinked like never before, a plethora of information is available. From international relations to democratic elections, from financial frauds to natural disasters, from policy proclamations to corruption scandals and from celebrities to criminals our current happenings are replete with ‘stories’. A journalist is then confronted with the ‘problem of plenty’. ‘To cover or not to cover’ is the question before a Media House.

            Some time tested touchstones are then applied to measure the newsworthiness of a story. These are as follows.

Is it new or ‘taaza khabar’?

            If it is not new, it cannot be news. The announcement of India’s latest Foreign Trade Policy or unearthing of a corruption scandal are new items and hence are News. But after a few days these can’t be treated as News. The exception is development of an unreported dimension of the News.

Sometimes an event might not be reported for a long time then such item continues to benews. News of the death of Mao Tse-tung, for instance, was not released to the world by the Chinese government for several days; when they did release it, however, it was still very definitely news.

Does it involve a conflict?

Stories centered on conflict between countries, states, corporations, celebrities etc. resonate with the readers and are very important. Hence the corporate war between the two Ambani siblings, heirs to India’s biggest corporate empire, was so widely reported in media and closely followed by public.

Is it unusual?

Things are happening all the time, but not all of them are news, even when they are new. Ordinary and everyday things do not make news. The classic definition of news is: ‘Dog bites man’ is not news; ‘Man bites dog’ is news. A few years back hordes of devotees’ thronged temples as idols were reportedly sipping milk. Such an unusual happening was news and reams of newsprint was dedicated for it.

Is it interesting?

Events which are new and unusual may still not be of general interest. Scientists may report that an insect has just been found living on a plant which it did not previously inhabit. The discovery is new, and the event is unusual, but it is unlikely to interest anybody other than a specialist or enthusiast. In a specialist publication this could be big news, but in a general news broadcast or paper it would merit at most a few words.

Is it significant?

However, if that same insect was one which had a huge appetite, and which had previously lived on and eaten bush grass and if the new plant on which it had been found was rice, then the story becomes news, because it is significant. People may not be interested in bugs, but they are interested in food. If this insect is now threatening their crops, it becomes a matter of concern to them. It is news because it is significant.

Is it about people?

Man is a social animal and is interested in anything significant happening to fellow human beings. Hence a people-centric story is important news. Hence while reporting on a cyclone, a bush fire, a drought, a volcanic eruption or an earthquake. It is when reporting these stories that it is important to make sure that the story is centred on people.

The cyclone would not matter if it blew itself out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, away from any inhabited islands; the fire could burn for as long as it likes in bush where nobody lives; the Sahara Desert has a near-permanent drought, but in most of it nobody is there to rely on rains; a volcanic eruption or an earthquake which damages nobody's property and injures nobody is really not news. All these natural disasters only become news when they affect people's lives. Every story can be told in terms of people.

Does it have proximity to the reader?

The same event happening in two different places can have two quite different news values. A coup d’état in our own country or even a neighbouring one is a big a story. However, a coup in a small country in another continent is unlikely to merit more than a few paragraphs. The appeal of local news is that your readers or listeners might know the people or place involved.

 Will it have a personal impact?

An earthquake in Mauritania will not arouse the interest of a villager in Satara but the news of Sky Lab’s expected crashing in Maharashtra will surely do. People are more interested in news that has an impact on them. Also they can identify with stories about other people like themselves. So those stories with which many people can identify are stronger than those which only apply to a few.

Does it have negativity?

 Bad news is more newsworthy than good news as it has an impact. God forbid but if Tuvalu was to get submerged by rising sea level then it will be more important than a path breaking discovery in Agriculture Science.   

Does it refer to prominent and eminent persons?

Stories concerned with global powers, political leaders, sports stars receive more attention than those concerned with commoners. Hence the Watergate Scandal of President Carter or the Monica Lewinsky episode of President Clinton were such big stories.

Does it refer to important nations?

Stories concerned with the big and powerful countries such as USA, China, Russia etc. are hot cakes. No wonder human rights violation by USA gets the front page while the same happening in Myanmar is only briefly mentioned in some corner.