What is news? Beyond facts, it’s the stories that truly matter to people. Explore why human interest and personal relevance are at the heart of every headline.
There are many definitions of what news is. Some say it’s information which is new, true, and interesting. Others say news is something somebody doesn’t want others to know about. Another definition is that news is what matters to people. And some think news is where the journalists are.
In the end what really matters is that you as a journalist agree with your colleagues in your newsroom and especially the person who has the final say in what should be released. One important question to ask is so what? What’s changed or will change about a situation?
Where do you find news?
The best way to find news is to use your senses. This is often called news sense and journalists starting off in the profession will develop this over time.
What do you see in front of you? If you see a bus crashing in front of you, say what you saw, once you know that the driver and passengers are being cared for.
What are you hearing about something? If the bus crashed ten minutes ago, find someone at the scene who saw what happened and ask them to tell you what they saw and when.
Sometimes the news can also be about what you do not see or hear. If the local government said a new school would be ready last month and it isn’t, that is news.
You should ask perhaps when it will be ready. If you normally hear the school bell ringing at the start of the school day and you don’t hear it, then ask why.
When people do something wrong, they will often try to hide it. If money goes missing from a business and you hear about it, ask who could have done it. If there is no medicine at the hospital, ask why.
Other examples of when senses can help you find a story are if you smell smoke. Sometimes that could be because a farmer is burning the land after crops have been harvested. That’s not news if it happens every year. If the building next to his field burns down too, that’s news. Ask what happened and how.
What topics make news?
This depends on how you define the news and who you are producing the news for. If you are making the news for people who speak isiNdebele in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, then it follows that your news topics will be those issues which matter to them.
That can be anything from the cost of fuel to the quality of education; from the price of vegetables in the market to decisions made by the local council about how much it will spend next year on building a road.
As a journalist depending on how many of you there are in your newsroom your editor might decide to assign you to one beat or type of story. They might want you to specialise in one area, such as education, or health, or local politics. You might do this for a fixed period of time. After that they might give you another beat like business, culture or transport.
That means that in your newsroom you become a specialist in that topic. You reach out to people who are experts in your new specialism and make regular and frequent calls for information and meet them in person from time to time.
They learn to trust you, and you learn to trust them. They might tell you in advance that something is going to happen so you can prepare for the story and brief you about it in detail on the basis that you run it on the day.
They might even after some time give you an exclusive story. In all cases you should keep your editor informed about what is happening.
Your editor might also decide you will cover anything at all. Then you would be a general reporter which means you cover anything and everything. This does mean that you don’t develop deep knowledge about one topic, but you know a little about everything.
What makes a story?
The best way of judging what makes a story is to talk to people in shops, markets, and where people meet. The more they are talking about your story the more impact it is making.
You can also get a sense of how much impact it is making by seeing if there is engagement with it online. Are people commenting on it? Be careful though about how you measure this. One person might have told 100 friends to write the same or a similar comment on your story. There might also be 10 different people writing with 10 different opinions.
There is no one rule for what makes for a good story before you publish it.
This often depends on the amount of experience you have in journalism. The more stories you have done, the more respect you will gain in the newsroom. People will say you have good news judgement.
Don’t be afraid to stand by your story if you think it is a good one and your editor does not think so. Make your case. Always keep in mind that you are often speaking up for people who do not have a voice. If you disagree with your editor about a story decision, accept it though and move on.
News angles
Sometimes groups of people will have different views on the same story. If teachers at a school go on strike and refuse to teach, they will have one opinion about it. The school principal might have another, and the parents might have a third.
Sometimes a story will have a cause and an effect. If a local factory accidentally lets chemicals leak into a nearby stream, then the effect might be that pollution causes fish to die.
What sources should you use?
Who should you interview for a story? Make sure people you talk to are knowledgeable, trustworthy and reliable. You would not interview a schoolteacher about driving a bus or a chemist about selling cars.
If someone gives you secret information in confidence, respect that. Do not reveal who gave you the information, no matter who it is that’s asking. Sometimes the most important person in an organisation might not be the best person to talk to. It is up to you to find the right person. In all cases, keep your editor informed.
Why be a journalist?
If you get it right, journalism is the best job in the world. You are carrying out a vital function. You are giving your community information they didn’t know before so that they can make decisions about their lives. You are pointing out when things are wrong so other people can put them right.