Recognizing News

What is the difference between a news event and a non-event?

• Timeliness
• Impact
• Proximity

1.Timeliness

Often referred to as the most important news characteristic, timeliness means information that is either fresh (for a weekly bulletin such as ANN, this means within one week of its occurrence) or related to an ongoing current issue that has continuing significance to the public.

2.Impact

Significance--any event or decision that affects a large group of people has news value. A mass baptism is more "newsworthy" than just one or two people; a rally attended by thousands is more likely to get newspaper space than a Sabbath morning service attended by 20. (ANN examples: "Dramatic Church Growth Continues in Mexico" (report of 4,000 baptized on one day).

Prominence--the difference between a news event and a non-event often depends on who's doing the talking. Generally, the words of a celebrity or politician have more news value than those of someone from the general public. Similarly, an event that relates to a well-known person immediately gains news value.

Uniqueness--Events that are out of the ordinary, or that have an unusual "twist" have intrinsic news value. ANN's report on the more than 4,500 Adventist young people in Romania who wrote out the Bible from memory is an example of this. Also in this genre are "firsts," such as a report on the first women in Papua New Guinea to receive an Adventist theology degree, or a story on the first postage stamp honoring Adventists to be issued in North America.

Conflict--Dissension, violence, and controversy are the staples of news. People are interested in reading about clashes between institutions or people. In ANN, if a conflict or controversy fulfills the other news values, we believe we have a responsibility to report on that issue or event. When reporting conflict, we aim for accurate, neutral, non-inflammatory, responsible reporting.

3.Proximity

Proximity means that the news must have impact on readers in the area in which the news is circulated. For newspaper editors, proximity relates to geography; the area in which the newspaper has circulation. The news must have significance for the people in a specific geographical area.

For an international news service, such as Adventist News Network, there is no common geographical factor. Instead, the common link between readers, which makes a story "proximate," is a shared "spiritual geography"--a community linked by faith. For a story to be proximate, then, it must be related to themes or ideas that are important to those within this "spiritual geography."