Most important News Determinants Values for the students of journalism are explained below:
Important News
Many authors have given different news determinants or news values. They are used for discussing news judgement as between competing stories and among elements within a given story.
1. Timeliness of News:
It is well said that all other factors being equal, the present is more important than the past, as far as the news value is concerned. Today’s decision of not supporting the election of party leader is more important than yesterday’s support for the same party leader. Thus the timeliness factor of the news is very important. It connotes that all other factors being equal, today is much greater than yesterday.
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2. Proximity of News:
The proximity of the nearness of the place of action also determines the news value. For a paper published from New Delhi a communal riot in Jama Masjid area becomes more important than a similar riot in Jamshedpur.
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Similarly, a daylight robbery in Mumbai has more news values for a newspaper published in Mumbai than a bigger daylight robbery in small town of Andhra Pradesh.
It means that all other factors being the same, here is greater than there. In this manner, we see that an event taking place in the home country is given precedence over a similar event taking place in another country.
3. The Magnitude of News:
It should be vividly remembered that all other factors being equal, the bigger event is given great prominence and precedence over the little or routine event. It means that the more serious, unusual and exciting news is greater than the less serious and less exciting event.
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For example, 50 persons are killed in air crash and 10 persons are killed in a railway accident, then the former news will be given more prominence than the latter.
Unfortunately, the negative events are given prominence in the press than the positive stories.
Although the press is criticised for its negative reporting of the events concerning death, destruction and riots, yet there is no doubt that the people are generally fascinated by such news.
People want more news about disasters events. The press always wants to print unusual things and dog biting a man is not a news, whereas man biting dog is definitely a news, similarly, a burning house is a news, whereas a safe house does not make any news.
4. The Significance of the News:
An event affecting a large percentage of people is greater than an event affecting hardly a few persons.
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For example, a five per cent increase in income tax is more important than two per cent increase in the salary of workers employed in a factory. Sometimes, there is little risk in applying this determinant.
This is the danger of stopping with surface significance. It may be due to a failing to find out a great significance than the apparent one, or the one suggested by an interested party.
The wrong use of this news indicator may be due to false importance given through the reporter’s ignorance or laziness or through prejudiced application of company policy. The main failing of this determinant is neglect in attaching undue importance to the surface basis.
5. The News Policy of the Newspaper:
Sometimes, due to certain weaknesses or the likings of the editor or the owner of the newspapers, more importance is given to an event than another event of greater significance, because any event of special interest to the editor or the owner will be greater than any other event.
Due to this factor, sometimes, news of much significance is suppressed, whereas ordinary news is given exaggerated importance.
This may range from a relatively harmless over-emphasis on news about the owner’s favourite ideologies to a vicious slanting of news concerning his rivals.
Of course, the above mentioned determinants overlap. The magnitude of news is magnified by its proximity and similarly by its significance.
A dacoity taking place in the city from where the newspaper is published has greater impact than dacoity place a hundred miles away in some town or village.