What Makes the News
Explain that the front page (of a print newspaper) or home page (of an online news source) are particularly important because they contain what the news outlet considers to be the most important or newsworthy stories. Generally speaking, the more pages you have to turn (or the more links you have to click) the less important a story is seen to be. (For TV or radio news the rule is that the most important stories are closest to the beginning of each news segment)
Now ask: How do you think editors or producers decide which stories go on the front/home page, which are harder to find, and which don’t get covered at all?
Let students discuss this for a few minutes, then explain that journalists have a set of general rules for deciding what stories are newsworthy. While some outlets may lean more towards particular topics, in general they all follow the same guidelines of newsworthiness.
Have students access the student chapter What Makes the News? and go through the course presentation with the class.
After reading each of the factors that contribute to newsworthiness, ask students if that seems like a reasonable standard. In most cases students will probably agree that they are: things like freshness, novelty and impact are all common-sense guidelines to decide what makes the news.