What is news, anyway?

What is news, anyway? How, for example do the editors at the Bangkok Post, decide which stories to include on its news pages? We put this question to Mr Pichai Chuensuksawadi, the Bangkok Post’s editor. Here is what he said:

"Our most important criteria in choosing news stories is what is important to our readers. This means that we begin mainly with stories of local interest. You can easily see this if you look to see how the Bangkok Post is organised.

"First comes local news. The front page usually has one major international story, but generally everything else happened in Thailand. Starting with page 3 or 4 we move to international news, but if you look closely, you will see that we begin with news from our region. After that we move further afield to news from Europe, North American or Africa.

"A lot of our news coverage involves local politics and we also have very strong coverage of the environment. We cover major crime stories, but we don’t go into as many details as do many of the local papers.

"Not all of our stories cover important news events, however. Some are included because they are unusual or amusing or perhaps they just seem interesting. These are human interest stories and they add variety to our news pages."

Actually, our news editors select specific stories mostly based on experience. They simply "know" what is news. But people who study the newspaper business say there really is a set of criteria (set of reasons) for selecting news stories, although it may be largely subconscious (done without thinking).

Below are the most important factors which help editors decide which stories to publish. Read through the list carefully because you will use it throughout the lesson.

Immediacy Events that are happening today or that happened yesterday are more interesting to readers than events of the days before. News loses its freshness very quickly.

Proximity (nearness) Readers are generally more interested in something that has happened close to home rather than far away, unless there is a local connection to that faraway place — a Thai student receiving an award in a foreign country, for example.

Impact Readers are interested in things that affect them. That is why the Bangkok Post carries stories on air pollution or the start of construction that may cause traffic jams.

Conflict Readers are interested in stories dealing with conflict, such as stories about protests, elections, war, sports, family disputes, or crime.

Prominence (fame) Readers are naturally interested in the activities of famous people or events involving powerful countries or organisations.

Intensity In general, big events receive more coverage than small events. For example an accident which kills 50 people is more likely to be covered than one which kills only two – unless, of course, the two are famous.

Strangeness Very unusual or funny stories also make news – events that are much different from the expected and everyday experiences of life.

Suspense News events or situations that are not yet finished – like a murder trial or the choosing of a new Thai prime minister — can cause great reader interest.

Emotion Events that cause readers to feel sympathy, anger, sadness or happiness are often considered to be newsworthy.

Progress Stories of great achievements – like a powerful new medicine, a successful mission to the planet Mars or a new method of controlling flooding in Bangkok – are very likely to receive coverage in the Bangkok Post.

Gender Stories about the changing roles of males and females – single parents, women fighting in wars, fathers caring for children while their wives work – also receive newspaper coverage.

This week you have a number of short stories to read and think about. First try to understand each story and then decide why it appeared in the Bangkok Post. Look through the list of criteria above and decide (1) which one was the primary factor and (2) what other factors were also involved. Most stories in the Bangkok Post meet several of the criteria above or they wouldn’t be considered newsworthy.