Essential elements of the news genre

"The news is supposed to be a mirror held up to the world, but the world is far too vast to fit in our mirror. The fundamental thing the media does all day, every day, is decide what to cover – decide, that is, what is newsworthy."

Ezra Klein, Why We’re Polarized

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.”[1] Other factors that journalists and editors historically consider include:

• Competition: What does another newspaper or outlet have today? Journalists don’t like to get “beat” on a story and some decisions about coverage are made so that they don’t fall behind or get beat in coverage. If a story is “trending” or “going viral” on social media there will be pressure to cover it, as well.
• Conflict and drama: Stories with conflict, or those presented dramatically, help capture and maintain audience attention.[2] A union negotiating a new contract probably won’t be newsworthy, but if they go on strike, it might.[3]
• Freshness: News has a short shelf life. The longer ago something happened, the less likely it is to get covered. Even an opinion or analysis article needs a “news hook” to connect it to something newsworthy that happened recently.[4]
• Human interest: Stories that appeal to universal human emotions and experiences.[5]
• Impact and consequence: Stories that affect many people or have significant ramifications.[6] Is the only factory in town closing down? That has a bigger impact than two people being laid off, so it's bigger news. A disaster is big news because of its impact, leaving people hurt and homeless. Stories with a negative impact are usually seen as more newsworthy. A billion-dollar space telescope launching successfully will only get coverage on a slow news day, but if it blows up on the launch pad, it will definitely be news.[7]
• Novelty and deviance: News often highlights the abnormal or things that deviate from the norm.[8] That means that things that happen a lot, like car accidents, rarely get covered, while things that are less common, like plane crashes, do.[9] (Journalists use the term “Hey Martha” for something that will make a reader want to tell someone else about it.)
• Prominence and personalization: Stories about specific individuals, particularly those in the public eye, tend to be more newsworthy than those about groups or systems.[10]
• Proximity: How close to your audience is the story? Events closer to the audience's geographic location are often prioritized.[11] This principle applies not just to stories that are close in distance but also close in identity. If the audience can’t identify with the people in the story, they’re less likely to be interested in it. That’s why a story usually has to have some kind of human interest to be newsworthy. A storm that knocked down some trees in a forest probably wouldn’t be newsworthy by itself, but if some of those trees knocked down someone’s house, or if the trees were at a Christmas tree farm, it might.[12]
• Specificity: Stories about a single event are more likely to be seen as newsworthy than ones about something that’s ongoing, and stories about specific people are more newsworthy than stories about groups or systems.[13]
• Vivid details and images: Stories accompanied by compelling photos or videos are often considered more newsworthy.[14]

In the digital age, other factors influence newsworthiness, such as social media virality and what other news organizations are already covering, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of coverage.[15]

Sub-genres

News can be divided into two general categories: hard news and soft news.

Hard news refers to a story in which time is a factor. In a hard news story, the task of reporters and editors is to get the details of the event (what happened? to whom? when? where? why? and how?) into the newspaper as quickly as possible - either the same day or the following day at the latest. Crime, politics and business are generally considered “hard” news.

Soft news isn’t usually time sensitive, nor is it necessarily related to a major event. A daily newspaper strives for a mixture of local and national, hard and soft news so its pages will have variety and offer something for every interest. Entertainment, fashion and trends are typical soft news topics.

Some topics may be hard or soft news depending on the particular story. A health story about a new virus that’s spreading widely would be a hard news story, while one about how to get better sleep would probably be soft news.

Some news outlets also include analysis articles. Unlike an editorial or an opinion piece, these aren’t usually taking a position on the story, but instead feature an expert reporter’s interpretation or what’s going on in the news. (These are sometimes also called “explainers.”)

There are also sub-genres of news based on the specific news beat; see the articles on Crime News and Health and Science News for a closer look at those sub-genres.

[1] Willams, J.L. (1899) The Stolen Story and Other Newspaper Stories. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York.

[2] Tully, M., Maksl, A., Ashley, S., Vraga, E. K., & Craft, S. (2022). Defining and conceptualizing news literacy. Journalism, 23(8), 1589-1606.

[3] Tully, M., Maksl, A., Ashley, S., Vraga, E. K., & Craft, S. (2022). Defining and conceptualizing news literacy. Journalism, 23(8), 1589-1606.

[4] Robert, R. (2007). Media-made criminality: the representation of crime in the mass media. Maguire, M. et al, 302-340.

[5] Compton, J. R. (2004). The integrated news spectacle: A political economy of cultural performance (Vol. 6). Peter Lang.

[6] Tully, M., Maksl, A., Ashley, S., Vraga, E. K., & Craft, S. (2022). Defining and conceptualizing news literacy. Journalism, 23(8), 1589-1606.

[7] Tully, M., Maksl, A., Ashley, S., Vraga, E. K., & Craft, S. (2022). Defining and conceptualizing news literacy. Journalism, 23(8), 1589-1606.

[8] Fallows, J. (2022) ‘Framing the News’: An Update.

[9] Fallows, J. (2022) ‘Framing the News’: An Update.

[10] Hackett, R. A., Gruneau, R. S., Gutstein, D., & Gibson, T. A. (2000). The missing news: Filters and blind spots in Canada's press. University of Toronto Press.

[11] Evensen, B. J. (2008). The responsible reporter: Journalism in the information age. Peter Lang.

[12] Evensen, B. J. (2008). The responsible reporter: Journalism in the information age. Peter Lang.

[13] Hackett, R. A., Gruneau, R. S., Gutstein, D., & Gibson, T. A. (2000). The missing news: Filters and blind spots in Canada's press. University of Toronto Press.

[14] Robert, R. (2007). Media-made criminality: the representation of crime in the mass media. Maguire, M. et al, 302-340.

[15] Klein, E. (2020). Why we're polarized. Simon and Schuster.