Many articles have been written about the value of news, especially since 2001. However, there is a paucity of empirical studies on the subject. One of the few studies on news values, however, was performed by Harcup and O’Neill in 2001. The authors found that readers value news for its Objectivity, Fairness, and Timeliness. But the question remains: How much do we really value news? What are the most important characteristics to look for?
Reporting of current events
Reporting of current events is considered news reporting, and it must be recent in time. However, some events from the past may be considered current because of their legitimate continuing public interest. For example, a meeting between two politicians in the past may have affected voter behavior at the next election. While this is acceptable, news that is created for exclusive use is not. Here are a few ways in which current events can be reported:
Objectivity
While it may be tempting to consider the professional objective model of journalism to create more compelling stories, that is not always possible. Ultimately, news companies need to appeal to a broader audience in order to remain in business. This is not to say that journalists should disregard their personal beliefs or biases, but they must admit that their work is not always detached and neutral. In fact, acknowledging the subjectivity of their work may help them defend their work from a more realistic standpoint.
Fairness
The notion of ‘fairness’ in news coverage has been imposed as a standard for professional journalism. While this concept is often conceived as non-partisanship or balance, it only offers a limited approach to evaluating news quality. This article reconsiders the conventional approach to bias and examines the implications of its use. Fairness, on the other hand, is more likely to be representative of the truth than neutrality, as there is no such thing as’middle ground’. Instead, fairness should be understood as a form of accuracy, consistency, and justification of position taking.
Timeliness
During the industrial revolution, the Timeliness of news was important. The 19th-century revolution brought about new temporal rhythms, such as rendering journalistic accounts as impulses. In turn, this changed the production of news and its engagement with audiences. Moreover, it allowed the press to reify timeliness both internally and externally through organizational rewards and marketing. These new methods increased the prospect for readers to participate in distant affairs and accentuated the ritualistic nature of news.
Impact
In order to measure the impact of news, we compared the quality of stories from quality and popular news outlets. The quality of stories varied based on the societal impact and their personification. We found that prominent stories in quality news outlets tend to focus more on the societal impact of a story. For example, a story about the death of an iconic American figure, despite its negative impact on the public, was more likely to be featured in a popular news outlet than a story about a lesser known person.
Celebrity
The public love celebrity news. From the results of the Love Island 2018 competition to the drama on Twitter between Drake and Kanye West, people have a fascination for all things related to celebrities. In fact, some people are more interested in celebrity news than in intellectual breaking news. That is why the Sun and Daily Mail are there to provide them with the latest celebrity stories. But what makes them so interesting? Here are some reasons why you should care about celebrity news.