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.