What Is News: Support Your Answer With Specific Examples

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WHAT IS NEWS?
1.0 Introduction
Defining ‘News’ in the 21st century can be a daunting task. When journalists are asked to define news, most times, their answer is that “I know it when I see it”. However, when questioned as to how they determine whether something is news or not, most of the time, the answer is “Because it just is” (Döveling et al., 2011). There exist many definitions of news that simply rely on gut feeling, which, according to Steffens (2005) obscures the complexities of news reporting. This paper sets out to answer the question, ‘What is news?’
2.0 Definitions of News
Broadly defined, news is the timely reporting of an event or occurrence. It conveys information about an event that has just occurred or something that is expected to happen in the near future (Hiebert& Gibbons, 2000). News can also be defined as the reporting of a recent event in the mainstream or alternative media. Mainstream media here refers to newspapers, television, radio and television. Alternative media here refers to the Internet and other sources (Thomas, 2013). Thus, news can be defined as any happening, development or merging story within 24 hours, which was hitherto unknown to the public (Steffens, 2005). For a recent development, qualified to be the ‘news’, it must not only have emerged in the recent past; but that it should be something that evokes wide interest among the outside world or be something that generates public curiosity. A case example is when you hear on FM radio broadcast that fifty people have perished in a tragic inferno that erupted after a train crash. To you, the listener, this may not qualify to be news. After all, many tragic accidents are reported all over the world. However, when you hear that ten out of the fifty people who perished are allegedly people from your village, then it becomes news. Now it becomes news because it evokes your interest as it directly concerns you. Consequently, you become keen and anxious since you suspect that these may be people that you relate to. Thus the condition and safety of the passengers become important to you.
Suppose you come across an article on CNN.COM that says, “58 dead and 500 injured in Las Vegas Shooting”. At first this would not qualify as news because several mass shootings are reported in the US after all. However, after a moment, you hear that the shootings happened at the Las Vegas Strip Club, and you remember that your uncle works at the club. Immediately, that becomes news. You begin to ask how many of the 58 were men, and could my uncle be one of them? Thus, just like the previous example, something becomes news when it elicits public interest or concern. When a national budget is being presented in parliament and you happen to be following the proceedings on television. When the Finance Minister announces a reduction in export tax, this is not news because you’re not into export business. Thus export tax reduction is of no importance to you. However, when the minister mentions a decline in the prices of petroleum products, your interest is aroused. You become alert and begin to follow keenly because a change in petroleum products will directly affect you. You want to know how much savings you will make at the petrol and gas pumps. A decrease in the prices of petroleum products is of importance to you, hence its news. The U.S presidential election has just been concluded and vote tallying is ongoing. As the tallying and counting take place, you’re more concerned about who eventually will be the next president of the United States. The information on who will have won becomes news for the moment since that is what you’re interested in. Not the team that just won an NBA championship.
According to Bogart John, ‘News is’ “..When a man bites a dog, not when a dog bites a man because that happens quite often” (Thomas, 2013). This definition introduces a new dimension. The element of surprise. It’s ordinary for a dog to bite a man, but extraordinary for a man to bite a dog. It makes the news because it defies the laws of nature. Nonetheless, when a dog bites a man that can still become news depending on ‘whom’ the dog has bitten. For instance, if a dog bites a Hollywood celebrity, that will become news. If say Tiger Woods is bitten by a dog that will ultimately make news. News can originate from anywhere. An event qualifies as news so long as it is current, unknown or it’s a recent or expected future happening (Thomas, 2013). The train accident and the Las Vegas Shooting are examples of current happenings that become news. So is the budget presentation. Here is an example of how something unknown can make news. You just tuned into CNN News and hear that there is a certain community in Africa that eats the dead. You will become interested because that’s something that was previously unknown in the U.S. Another case could be that you’re reading news online and come across this article that reports about the first man who has successfully landed on the planet Saturn after 29 Years of space travel. This man has discovered a new human species on the planet. This will become global news as it’s something that was previously unknown to the outside world.
3.0 News and Information: What’s the Difference?
News and information are not one and the same, even though information can become news. For instance, the display of pump prices in a petrol station or gas prices in a gas station do not qualify to become news. And so is the display of flight information at the airport. The display of pump, gas and flight prices isn’t news but information. However, certain information can become news. For instance, the display of new adjusted pump prices or new flight information becomes news. News is not when the tax authority publishes information about different government tax regimes. It’s not news since it’s something that has always been. However, when the government makes upward or downward adjustments in the different tax bands, then that ultimately becomes news(Thomas, 2013). The meteorological department often releases reports about the current and expected future weather patterns. For instance temperatures, humidity, rainfall and sunny conditions. This weather report does not qualify to become the news, except when there is an abrupt change in weather patterns such as heavy rainfalls and destructive storms or extreme drought conditions. Thus, in the first case, reporting of daily weather conditions was general information, but the reporting of a sudden change in weather pattern becomes the news. News should convey or inform the listener about a current or future unusual happening. Thus, newness is the currency that turns information into news.
4.0 What Constitutes News?
A news report should seek to answer the five Ws questions. For a report to make news, it must attempt to answer the When? What? Why and Who? Questions. These are fundamental questions that every news item must answer. Besides the five Ws, an ideal news item should answer the H question. The H stands for How?. A case example is when you hear news of a school shooting that left 3 students dead, and several injured. This report will evoke several questions in the listener. First and foremost, when did this happen? Second, where did it happen? These are fundamental questions that a news item should answer. Once these questions are answered, the listener will then develop further interest in understanding the incident. The next question will be, Why did it happen? And more importantly, you will want to know who might have been behind the school shooting? What might have been the motive, and just how many were these attackers?. After all these questions are answere...