Journalism & News
The tropes and industry practices of crime news have profound societal impacts, ranging from distorting public opinion to influencing policy and causing tangible harm to individuals and communities.
The following best practices guide journalists in navigating the pitfalls of exaggeration, inadequate vetting and biased framing inherent in modern news production.
At its core, news is defined by what’s considered newsworthy, a criterion that has evolved over time. Traditionally, a story is deemed newsworthy if it’s unusual, as encapsulated by Jesse Lynch Williams’ adage "a dog bites a man, that's a story; a man bites a dog, that's a good story.”
The way we get our news has changed dramatically because of the internet. While TV is still the most popular news source for Canadians overall, younger Canadians rely mostly on social media.
The way we get our news has changed dramatically because of the internet. While TV is still the most popular news source for Canadians overall, younger Canadians rely mostly on social media. This shift means people depend less on news outlets to choose what to cover and more on what their friends share or what social media algorithms recommend. As a result, there’s a growing concern that the news people receive hasn't been fact-checked or isn’t objective.
Health and science reporting is influenced both by economic norms (the conditions and constraints in which journalists do their jobs) and journalistic norms, such as objectivity and balance.[1] Both of these have an impact on how reporting on these topics is done.
Like other genres and sub-genres, health and science news has standard tropes that are used by journalists and expected by audiences. These can have an impact on the accuracy and reliability of coverage.
As with other kinds of news, newsworthiness is the essential element of health and science coverage. Along with the factors that generally influence newsworthiness, Boyce Rensberger, in A Field Guide for Science Writers, identifies four factors specific to science stories: