Image: foreignpolicy

So many things are happening all over the world at the same time but not everything will make it to live or print news.  There are stories that make it as mere fillers or news placed just to fill in an expected empty space and there are the newsworthy news which are stories given priority because they are expected to sell and get the readers’ interest.  For budding writers and reporters who wish to be significant contributors to their reported materials, there are certain factors that have to be considered to ensure that a story will make it to the final cut.

The first factor to consider is the currency of the news.  This is about how new or how recent the story is.  People rarely refer to newspapers for history unless a certain section is dedicated to such a topic.  People are always looking for what’s new so this means a totally new story or the latest update to a story line being followed.

The coverage of effect is another.  In simple terms, stories are gauged for its significance and this would usually pertain to how many people are involved or are actual participants to the story.  It is a natural conclusion that the more people involved in a story, the more people there are interested to read about it.  A classic example of this is a death toll in a disaster.

The popularity of the subject of the story is very critical in determining the newsworthiness of a story.  A very minor mishap involving a celebrity will usually be found in the front pages while a death of an unknown person is lucky to find itself in the last pages unless a story has a unique point of human interest.  Since this type of stories appeal to human emotions, other factors may be set aside.  The proximity of the event also plays a big part in determining newsworthiness.