News values were the topic of lecture 8. This topic was one
of the most interesting so far. News values were defined in the lecture as ‘the
prominence a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid by
an audience’. What makes the headlines and what doesn’t, says a lot about our
society. An interesting point made in
the lecture was whether certain stories are valued by society because they are
top stories or whether they are top stories because of society’s values.
Celebrity stories are an excellent of example of stories that are given value
and often preference over more pressing stories. Although many people disagree
with this, in essence it is our own doing. If we as a society did not want
these stories they would probably not be told.
However there are factors that are taken into account when
deciding which stories to put on the front page or not. An article that has an impact, leaves an
impression and ‘wows’ the audience is an important and valued article. News that is local is of great relevance and
importance to specific audiences. Ethics and facticity is also analysed along
with source reliability.
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