News Now

Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age (2-downloads)

Susan Green, Mark Lodato, B. William Silcock, Carol Schwalbe

• Verlag: Routledge
• Jahr: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317346098
• Auflage: 1
• Thema: Languages & Linguistics
• Thema: Communication Studies

Debuting in its first edition News Now: Visual Storytelling in the Digital Age helps today's broadcast journalism students prepare for a mobile, interactive, and highly competitive workplace. The authors, all faculty members of the prestigious Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, bring their real-world expertise to a book designed to be a trusted reference for the next generation of broadcast journalists.

News Now

DOI: 10.4324/9781315663432-1

“Our job is only to hold up the mirror—to tell and show the public what has happened.”

—WALTER CRONKITE

Contributed by Jason Manning, Director of Student Media, Arizona State University

Chapter Outline

• 2 NEWS JUDGMENT
• 3 THE PEOPLE FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE AUDIENCE
• 4 THE WEB CHANGES EVERYTHING
• 8 UNDERSTANDING THE FLOW OF INFORMATION
• 9 EVOLVING STORIES AND TOPICS
• 10 HOW A NEWSROOM WORKS
• 12 FINDING NEWS TO REPORT
• 14 RULES FOR DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA
• 15 MEASURING NEWS CONSUMPTION
• 18 OBJECTIVITY, BIAS AND TRANSPARENCY
• 20 A NEWSROOM THAT FITS YOU

News Judgment

The definition of news has been debated for centuries, but most professional journalists agree on a few common elements. News is information that is important, timely, interesting and relevant to a particular audience.

News judgment—deciding what is important, timely, interesting and relevant—is a big part of a professional journalist’s job. Reporters, editors and producers use news judgment every day to decide what to cover:

• IMPORTANT: Will this information have significance in the lives of my audience?
• TIMELY: Is this information new and recent enough to have an impact on my audience?
• INTERESTING: Will this information interest my audience? Is it compelling or surprising?
• RELEVANT: Does this information apply to a significant portion of my audience?

As you evaluate a potential news item, ask yourself whether it meets the four criteria above—and to what degree. Now imagine a News Meter. The far left side of the meter reads “No News,” and the far right side reads “Big News.” Answering yes to each of the questions above would move the meter’s needle to the right. Answering no would keep the needle on the left. Keep in mind that the criteria are closely related and often overlap.

Developing Good News Judgment

You are a reporter for a local television station. You hear about a car crash on the main freeway in your city. How do you and your editor determine the potential newsworthiness of this story? As you read each fact, think about how it might affect the News Meter in Figure 1.1.

Is it important?	The crash snarls local traffic traffic for hours.
	The crash only causes a short, minor slowdown.
	The crash results in major injuries to multiple people.
	The crash results in minor injuries to a few people.
Is it timely?	The crash happened within the past hour.
	The crash happened hours ago, and you’re just learning about it.
Is it relevant to your audience?	The crash knocks out power to 15 city blocks.
	The crash knocks out power to a few houses.
	The crash affects traffic patterns and commutes for a large number of people.
	The crash has only minor impact on traffic.
Is it interesting?	First responders to the crash made a dramatic rescue of trapped passengers.
	The ...