Pre-reading 1: News Values

What are news values?

• The set of principles that guide journalists in writing news articles.

• Criteria used by journalists to determine the worthiness of a story.

• The ownership structure of media conglomerates.

• The prominence given to advertisements in a newspaper.

Which theorists came up with the news values theory?

• Curran and Seaton

• Levy

• Marx

• Galtung and Ruge

Match the following news value with its description:

• Stories that have ongoing developments or are part of an ongoing narrative receive coverage.

• Negativity

• Stories which are big and significant are likely to be deemed more newsworthy.

• Elite Nations/People

• Events that occur more frequently are considered more newsworthy.

• Continuity

• Events involving influential figures or celebrities attract coverage.

• Frequency

• Stories with negative or unexpected consequences tend to attract more attention.

• Threshold

Stories with high news values tend to receive more in-depth coverage and longer articles. These stories may be placed on the ______ pages.

How do news values influence the structure of a newspaper?

• They determine the number of advertisements included in each issue.

• They have no impact on the layout and presentation of news.

• They dictate the placement of stories, headlines, and visuals.

• They only influence the size of the newspaper.

How can the application of news values by gatekeepers potentially lead to biases?

• Gatekeepers may prioritise stories that are based on objective criteria only.

• Gatekeepers may prioritise stories based on their personal interests and hobbies.

• Gatekeepers may prioritise stories that align with the newspaper's ideological stance.

• Gatekeepers may prioritise stories that are less newsworthy.

How does Rupert Murdoch's ownership of News UK impact The Sun newspaper?

• It increases the number of advertisements in the newspaper.

• It shapes the overall editorial direction and priorities of The Sun.

• It leads to the downsizing of the newspaper's staff.

• It focuses on covering only positive news stories.

Gatekeeping decisions are influenced by various factors, including news values and ​ (a)   ​ .

• political bias
• content of the story
• public opinion
• editioral policy