What makes a news story newsworthy? Comparing the actual factors and my own factors.

I have learnt quite a number factors which make a story newsworthy but I am only sharing a few of the main factors which I strongly agree with.

The first factor is the uniqueness of the news article. In fact almost everything you see in the newspaper are unusual and that's why everyone is reading them! If there is a news article about a couple hugging on the beach, it will not arouse much interest in the readers. However, if the news article is about two couples kissing underwater in some sort of underwater gallery on Valentine's Day, it would probably attract much higher attention as this is not something we people see in all the time in broad day light. The uniqueness of a news is very important as readers only hopes to be inform on something which they had never experienced or heard of before.

The next factor I am going to share about is the prominence of the characters involved in the news. It occurs that many people like to read news and stories about famous people and characters in the world. If there happens to be a news article about a man injured in a ordinary road accident, I doubt anyone would pay any attention to it. However, if the news article is about a plane crash involving the death of a prominent Minister, it would definitely appeal to the readers' interest. For example, not long ago when the news about Michael Jackson having passed away appeared in the news, the response was overwhelming from the public. Michael Jackson's songs and dance steps began to spread all around the world and many people kept on mentioning him. This is an example of how the prominence of characters in the news affect the newsworthiness of a story. News about leading countries such as America and China also attract readers' attentions.

Another factor is about the number of people affected in the news. This is rather important because many people are interested in events or incidents which involves a lot of people. For example, the recent news of Japan earthquake and tsunami caused tens of thousands of people to be homeless or dead. Nearly the whole of Japan is affected by this tragic incident. When large number of people met disaster, the whole world will be focusing on them. However, if there is a news about a small tremor which caused one or two people injured, people would not pay much attention to them.

The last factor I am going to talk about is the appeal to pathos in a news. Humans seem to have a certain nature to sympathise or pity people or animals who are harmed innocently. Pathos can also be related to the previous example of an earthquake. Whenever, there is a news about a huge disaster which caused many to lose their lives or become homeless, many people will pay attention to it. Such news also urged the readers to take certain actions such as donations or helping other acts to help the victims. If there is news of an endangered species of animal drowned or was affected by some natural disaster, readers would definitely study it. This explain that most people have a sense of sympathy and will feel sorry for anyone or anything who suffered in the world out there.

The few factors mentioned above are the few main factors which I believe are true about affecting the newsworthiness of a piece of news story. Of course, there are many other factors which may be true but I feel that it may not be as important as those mentioned above. These factors include recency of a news, possible future impact of the content stated in the news, conflict (physical or emotional), consequences, human interest, shock value or titillation component (related to sex). Shock value and titillation component are usually the main factors which make tabloid newspaper worth selling. The news in tabloid newspaper are mostly those gossipy news which surprised interested readers and urge them to continue reading on.

Comparing the Types of newspaper

Newspaper informs the public about recent activities happening locally or all over the world. There are two kinds of newspaper. Namely, the broadsheet and the tabloid. So what is the difference between them?

Let me give you a brief introduction.

A broadsheet is the kind of newspaper most people usually reads. It contains important highlights and news from all about the world such as disasters, protests against government, politics, economics and so on. These news are more objective and most people would refer reading broadsheet. A few examples of broadsheets are The Strait Times, our local Chinese newspaper 联合早报, New York Times and so on.

On the other hand, a tabloid appears much smaller and has much different content. A tabloid usually includes gossips and sensational news which are often related to celebrities. They still do inform public about news. Just that these news may not have much impacts on our daily lives and are just gossips which are meant for entertainment purposes. Tabloid news include our local Chinese newspaper 晚报 and so on. (Today is not counted as a tabloid as it is just a smaller version of a broadsheet.)

The above mentioned is the main different between the content of each type of newspaper. So what are the differences in appearance or language between these two types of newspaper? Well, firstly, a broadsheet is about two times larger in size as compared to the tabloid. This might be related to the way the journalists write the news. Broadsheet usually have longer sentences while tabloid have shorter sentences. Broadsheets have fewer photographs and colours in their content while tabloid is much more fanciful and has more photographs and decorations all over the paper. Broadsheets also have much longer news articles as compared to tabloids. Regarding the language used in both kinds of newspaper, it is very obvious that broadsheet has a more formal tone and language whereas tabloid uses colourful, exaggerated and slangy languages. The language used in tabloid is mainly to appeal to the readers interest. The headlines of tabloid news articles are also very attractive due to the word choice.

My Favourite character in To Kill a Mockingbird: Atticus Finch

My favourite character in o Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch. This is because Atticus is cool and calm. He may be old but he is wise and has a strong sense of morality and justice. I like him also because he teaches his children to treat everyone in society equally. And one of the most important reason why I like him is because he has true courage.

Atticus Finch defended a Negro even though he know the consequences and the humiliation his family would receive. This shows that Atticus has true courage and is willing to suffer as long as he does the right thing and fight for justice. He never blamed anyone for calling him a nigger-lover because he understand how most of the Whites in Maycomb county felt after they knew that Atticus was defending a Negro in court. One example was when Mrs Dubose said that Atticus was no better than the niggers he defended. Jem was furious with her and messed up her camelias. However, Atticus called her a lady and even asked Jem to apologise to her. He wanted Jem to learn what is true courage and he also knew that Mrs Dubose was very brave as she fought hard against Morphine addiction.

Personal Response: Letter to a Friend (By Scout Finch)

(Assume the friend is called Janice)

Dear Janice,

I would like to share with you my personal experience in Maycomb county when I was young. Since you live in the city since young, I think you understand little about life in this small American town. Let me share with you what I have learned when I was in first and second grade.

When I was in second grade, my brother Jem, and I actually witnessed a trial which our father(who was an attorney) defended a Negro. This Negro was accused of rape by Bob Ewell and his daughter, Mayella Ewell. Although Mayella Ewell claimed that Tom Robinson raped her, our father has sufficient evidence to prove that it was actually Bob Ewell who had beat his daughter. Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape claimed that he had not raped Mayella Ewell and in fact, Mayella actually tempted him and nearly kissed him. Of course, Tom Robinson who was a black and had a family of his own would never allow such things to happen. He fully understood the dire consequences if he were to be seen kissing a White lady. In fact, it was true that he had not raped Mayella and our father was right about it. Tom was indeed innocent. He was also helpful and often assisted to break up chiffarobes or repair other accessories in the Ewell's house. During the trial, Mr Gilmer, the attorney who was supporting the Ewells also mocked Tom by calling him "boy".

My brother and I was shocked about the racism in society. It was unfair that Tom Robinson was being accused wrongly of rape. Bob Ewell was cruel to try to harm Tom Robinson. He knew that there was little chance for Tom Robinson to win the court case because he was a Negro and he will be at a disadvantage. From the trial, I truly see racism in the society. It was the first time I had seen racism in town. I realise that our father is actually teaching us not to be racist since young. He is against racism and we can also see the negative consequences of racial prejudice.

We also have a neighbour called Arthur Radley. But my brother and I often call him Boo Radley. This neighbour has not appear for fifteen years since his father lock him up in the house. However, after Bob Ewell attack my brother and I one night, Boo Radley came out to save us. It was until then that we realised that Boo Radley remained isolated from the town for so long because he is against the idea of racial prejudice in the society. Thus, he hides in his house to avoid hearing or seeing anything regarding racial discrimination. These incidents gave me important lessons on racism and why we should avoid it. Even though I wished that racism would stop one day, I knew that it would continue to last for a long time because people with higher authority tends to bully or take advantage of other social groups with less authority.

This is about all. I hope you understand the severeness of racism in my hometown. However, racial discrimination is also happening throughout the world and they could be much more serious than those which appears in Maycomb county.

Yours truly,

Jean Louise Finch

aka

Scout

Why Do I Like or Dislike the Movie: Mississippi Burning

I do not like the movie as it shows a lot of disturbing scenes regarding racial discriminations against the Blacks. Although there are quite a number of characters in the movie who are helping the Blacks and fighting against racial discriminations, there are still too many lynchings of Blacks as there was White Supremacy. The Whites (Ku Klux Klan) were not afraid of the FBI or the sheriffs and continue to kill the Blacks. The lynchings of the Blacks have been lasting for a long time before the FBI even came. This is very sad and I feel sympathy for the Blacks in the movie. I understand that the motive behind the movie is to allow the audience to feel sorry for the Blacks. However, I feel that the movie portrays too many examples and scenes about injustice in the then society. The scenes make me feel very uneasy and uncomfortable when watching the movie. It is not only the acts of violence that resulted in this, it is also because the Blacks are being lynched by the Whites cruelly even though they are all innocent and had not committed any crime. I feel that they can also portray racial discrimination verbally and not through the cruel scenes. I feel that portraying racial discrimination through words would be more appropriate in the sense that audience may not find it to disturbing. However, I think that the rationale for including these cruel acts in the movie is to make the audiences dislike Whites, or even hate them. But this is just a movie. Why should we make the audience create such a strong sense of hatred towards the Whites. Even by conveying the message of racial discrimination through less violent forms, it will be sufficient for audience to understand the consequences of racial discriminations and the feelings of the people in the movie. These are the reasons why I dislike the movie.

In my opinion, I think that it is very unfair for the Blacks to suffer simply because they were borne Black. There is no crime in being a certain identity. I truly hope that those who still have racial discriminations understand the feelings of those they are discriminating against. They should also understand that if others were to discriminate them because they were borne in a certain way, it would definitely be very unfair for them. Till now, I still do not understand why people discriminate one another because of differences in race or religions. Couldn't this people spare a thought for others? And shouldn't they try to understand what is the point of discriminating others?

Reflecting on the Phrase: 'Anyone is guilty who watches this and does nothing'.

I feel that discrimination and prejudice should not be appearing in our society as it is very unfair for the social group which is being discriminated. Since all of us are of the same human race, why do can't we give everyone equal opportunities in everything in life because they may stand a chance to outdo those who discriminate against them. Why must people be so selfish and only allow themselves to achieve their goals and preferred lives and yet preventing others from achieving what they want?

If I were to see anyone discriminating against others, I would step forward and try to help the poor person by advising those who discriminate against him to stop their act. I usually feel a sense of sympathy when these people are being discriminated against and therefore, I always try to help them and save them from any difficulties. I believe those who get discriminated would feel lonely and have little confidence in themselves. They would also dare not go into the public in fear of being discriminated by others. Therefore, we must always play our part in helping people who are discriminated against. If you can help them, why not spend a little effort to bring back to society and try to reduce such discriminations?

In future, if I were to witnessed any act of discrimination in which I would not have the authority to stop it, I would approach someone who can help these poor people and teach those who discriminate against them a lesson.

Personal Experience of Racial Discrimination

I have not actually experienced racial discrimination myself but my mother has experienced it before. My mother grew up in Malaysia. She once shared with me that the Malays in Malaysia are privileged and are provided with more opportunities in education. She explained to me that since there was a majority of Malays, the government often gave the Malay higher opportunities than the Chinese in education such that most of the Malays get into Universities. This is the privilege the Malaysia government provide for the Malays in Malaysia. I believe this is because the government wanted the Malays to have power over the Chinese as it is a Malay country. My mother said that the Malays in her primary school classes are very arrogant. The Malays often receive more educational opportunities then the Chinese even when the Chinese outperform them. I heard from my mother that there is a quota system when the students wish to enter junior colleges or universities. Although most of the Chinese outdone the Malays in their academics, the schools will still allow about 75% of Malays to receive the scholarships before allowing Chinese to receive the scholarships.

This made me realised why some of the Malaysian Chinese scholars in our school are so hardworking. These students actually stand a faint chance to get into top schools and universities in Malaysia due to the privileges given the Malays. Therefore, they studied very hard to achieve the scholarships to study in Singapore where they had more educational opportunities and also higher chances of getting into universities. This explained why the Malaysian Scholars in our school can excel so well in their studies or in their CCAs.

Personally, I feel very sorry for the Chinese in Malaysia who did not receive scholarships to study overseas. They grew up in a society where they are treated unfairly and given less privileges. In Singapore, we have a standardised education for all children and there is no racial discrimination between different social groups. However, I admire the Malaysian scholars strong determination and diligence which allow them to soar to greater heights and excel in society in future.

This is a link which I would like to share about racial discrimination in Malaysia

http://www.halfsigma.com/2009/07/racial-discrmination-in-malaysia.html