What Makes a News Story?
There are many types of stories that make the news, including crime stories and money stories. Stories that affect the lives of individuals are also newsworthy. Stories that influence public opinion are called “human interest stories.” News stories can also set the agenda of a news organization. But what makes a story a news story? Here are some of the most common types of news stories.
Crime and money make news
Crimes that involve money or a high profile person usually get more attention than simple thefts. In a small town, the theft of one’s car might not make the news, but if it involved a politician or other high profile person, it could. Similarly, fraud cases involving public figures usually get more coverage than ordinary thefts.
Crimes are also newsworthy because the public needs to know how laws are broken, and the penalties for breaking them. Most people do not break laws, but some people are fascinated by the fact that criminals make a lot of money with very little effort. For example, an ordinary person would need years to earn $100,000 legally.
Human interest stories
Human interest stories in the news are stories that appeal to the public interest. While these stories are typically non-political, they do raise important issues. For example, a human interest story can focus on a tragic accident and the reaction of people. In this case, a journalist may report on the accident but leave out the details of the cause. This can have serious repercussions. As a result, reporters need to be careful not to make any errors in reporting.
A good human interest story will have an absorbing lead, a well-written story and vivid descriptions. A compelling human interest story might follow the journey of a family of refugees in a foreign country or a mountain climber chasing a world record. The article might include details about the climber’s childhood, training, and future ambitions. Alternatively, it might feature an expose on a local politician.
Stories that affect some change in the life of people
A story is a story that expresses how life changes for a person. It starts with life as usual, but then there is some “inciting incident” that throws everything out of balance. It then describes how the protagonist’s subjective expectations collide with objective reality.
Stories that set the news organisation’s own agenda
The use of personalization in news content aims to contextualise events in terms that are meaningful to ordinary people and to involve them in the story. The impact of a story can be measured by its shareability. In order to become shareable, the story must be emotional, unexpected, or trigger emotion in its audience. Often, the stories in the news are negative; however, stories can have a positive impact when the news is about something positive.
The value of a news story is determined by two factors: the change and the relevance of that change. By manipulating the relevance and the degree of change, journalists can boost their story’s news value.