What Makes a Story Newsworthy?
News can be defined as “newsworthy information about recent events or happenings，especially as reported by news media”．But what makes a story newsworthy？There is a list of five factors which are considered when deciding if a story is newsworthy.
Timing
The world news means things which are new.Topics which are current are good news.A story with only average interest needs to be told quickly if it is to be told at all.If it happened today，it's news.If the same thing happened last week，it's no longer interesting.
Significance
The number of people affected by the story is important.A plane crash in which hundreds of people died is more significant than a crash killing a dozen.
Proximity(邻近)
Stories which happen near to us have more significance.The closer the story to home，the more newsworthy it is.For someone living in France，a major plane crash in the U．S.A.has a similar news value to a small plane crash near Paris.
Note that proximity doesn't have to mean geographical distance.Stories from countries with which we have a particular similarity have the same effect.For example，Australians would be expected to relate more to a story from a distant Western nation than a story from a much closer Asian country.
Prominence(显著)
Famous people get more coverage just because they are famous.If you break your arm it won't make the news，but if the Queen of England breaks her arm it's big news.
Human interest
Human interest stories are a bit of a special case.They often don't follow the main rules of newsworthiness.For example，they don't date as quickly，they need not affect a large number of people，and it may not matter where in the world the story takes place.Human interest stories inspire people's feelings.They aim to draw responses.
[阅读障碍词]
1．define vt. 定义；使明确；规定
2．significance n. 意义
3．geographical adj. 地理学的；地理的
4．coverage n. 覆盖；新闻报道
5．aim vt. 目的在于；把……对准
vi. 打算；瞄准
n. 目的，目标
