NEWS Lecture No: 3 (for the students of English Dept of SBBU)

In the modern world of click-baiting, absolute free speech, alternative facts, fear-mongering and the “war of ideas” (read: soft conversion of a mass group of people from one set of views to another), news is often less about informing people so they may be equipped with knowledge and insight, but more for the purpose of four things:

1.    Maintaining a status quo

2.    Distraction

3.    To make people acquiesce to a particular political agenda

4.    To help commoditise something for financial gain.

This of course, is not a new phenomenon. Arguably every regime or organisation aims to establish its ideals and argue for its own cause.  But there is a difference between presenting information, in this case the news, through the lens of facts, accurate historical context and analysis, and news with the driven agenda of manipulating the consumer into a conforming with a particular view. By Sheikh Jaffe

"When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."

Examples of literal use in journalism

In 2000, the Santa Cruz Sentinel ran a story titled "Man bites dog" about a San Francisco man who bit his own dog. Reuters ran a story, "It's News! Man Bites Dog", about a man biting a dog in December 2007.

A 2008 story of a boy biting a dog in Brazil had news outlets quoting the phrase.

 In 2010, NBC Connecticut ran a story about a man who bit a police dog, prefacing it with, "It's often said, if a dog bites a man it's not news, but if a man bites a dog, you've got a story. Well, here is that story."

On May 14, 2012, the Medway Messenger, a British local newspaper, ran a front page story headlined "MAN BITES DOG" about a man who survived a vicious attack from a Staffordshire bull terrier by biting the dog back.

 On September 27, 2012, the Toronto Star, a Canadian newspaper, ran the story headlined "Nearly Naked Man Bites Dog", about a man that is alleged to have bitten a dog in Pembroke, Ontario.

On December 2, 2012, Sydney Morning Herald reported about a man that bit the dog and its unfortunate consequence; 'Man bites Dog, goes to hospital' 

On May 5, 2013, "Nine News", an Australian news outlet, ran a story headlined "Man bites dog to save wife" about a man who bit a Labrador on the nose, after it attacked his wife and bit off her nose.

 On March 12, 2014, Rosbalt, a Russian news agency, reported that a man in Lipetsk had burnt a bed in his apartment, run around the city in his underwear, and, finally, "bit a fighting breed dog" following an hours-long online debate about the situation in Ukraine.

In April 2014, CNN reported a mom bit a pit bull attacking her daughter.

On June 14, 2014, the South Wales Argus ran a front page teaser headlined "Man Bites Dog" about a man who has been accused of assaulting his partner and her pet dog. The Online version of this story was later amended to "Man bites dog and escapes jail".

On September 1, 2014 the Coventry Telegraph and the Daily Mirror ran an article about a man who had bitten a dog after it attacked his pet.

On December 17, 2014 the Cambridge News ran an article with a headline starting: "Man bites dog then dies".

On November 4, 2015 the Washington Post ran an article with the title "Man bites dog. No, really."

On April 10, 2018 the Daily Telegraph ran such an article about a man biting a dog to defend his own dog.^]

On May 4, 2018, the Salt Lake Tribune ran an article about a man biting a police dog while being taken into custody.^[

Dog shoots man

There have also been a number of "dog shoots man" news stories.

 As an example of a related phrase, a story titled "Deer Shoots Hunter" appeared in a 1947 issue of the Pittsburgh Press, mentioning a hunter that was shot by his own gun due to a reflex kick by the deer he had killed. And in 2005, in Michigan, there was a case of "cat shoots man".

Newsworthiness is defined as a subject having sufficient relevance to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage. In some countries and at some points in history, what news media and the public have considered "newsworthy" has met different definitions, such as the notion of news values.

News values, sometimes called news criteria, determine how much prominence a news story is given by a media outlet, and the attention it is given by the audience. They explain how editors and other journalists decide that one piece of information is news while another is not.

A news story is a written or recorded (or, occasionally, live) article or interview that informs the public about current events, concerns, or ideas. You don't usually write the story – though sometimes local media will use exactly what words you give them – but you provide story ideas to journalists who then flesh out ...

flesh out. : to provide more information about (something) : to make (something) more complete by adding details. You need to flesh out your plan with more details.

News writing:  writing for publication in a newspaper, often reporting current events; journalism.

The Seven News Values—impact, timeliness, prominence, proximity, bizarreness, conflict, and currency.

The content of the news can be different in different societies. The way in which the news is judged, though, is the same everywhere.

Criteria of news

The criteria by which news is judged are:

• Is it new?
• Is it unusual?
• Is it interesting or significant?
• Is it about people?

These elements make up what we call the "news value" of information. The stronger the elements are, the higher the news value.

Is it new?

If it is not new, it cannot be news. The assassination of Mrs Gandhi is unusual, interesting, significant and about people, but it cannot possibly be reported in tomorrow's papers, because it is not new.

If some facts about that assassination became known for the first time, however, that would be news. The assassination would not be new, but the information wouldbe.
Events which happened days or even weeks earlier can still be news, as long as they have not been reported before. If you are telling a story for the first time, it is new to your readers or listeners and therefore it can be news.

News of the death of Mao Tse-tung, for instance, was not released to the world by the Chinese government for several days; when they did release it, however, it was still very definitely news.

Is it unusual?

Things are happening all the time, but not all of them are news, even when they are new. A man wakes up, eats breakfast and goes to work on a bus; it has only just happened, but nobody wants to read about it because it is not unusual. Ordinary and everyday things do not make news.

Of course, if that same man was 90 years old and was still catching the bus to work every day, it would be unusual!

The classic definition of news is this: "Dog bites man" is not news; "Man bites dog" is news.
This definition, though, is not universal. If dogs are eaten in your society (at feasts, for instance) then it will not be news when a man bites a dog - so long as it has been cooked.

What is usual in one society may be unusual in another. Again, we will expect the content of the news to vary from society to society. In every society, though, whatever is unusual is likely to be news.

Is it interesting?

Events which are new and unusual may still not be of general interest. Scientists may report that an insect has just been found living on a plant which it did not previously inhabit. The discovery is new, and the event is unusual, but it is unlikely to interest anybody other than a specialist or enthusiast.

In a specialist publication this could be big news, but in a general news broadcast or paper it would merit at most a few words.

Is it significant?

However, if that same insect was one which had a huge appetite, and which had previously lived on and eaten bush grass and if the new plant on which it had been found was rice, then the story becomes news, because it is significant.

People may not be interested in bugs, but they are interested in food. If this insect is now threatening their crops, it becomes a matter of concern to them. It is news because it is significant.

Similarly, if a peasant farmer says that the Roman Catholic Church should ordain women priests, that is not news. If an archbishop says it, it is news, because what he says on the subject is significant. It is the views of people such as the archbishop which help to form the policy of the Church.

Once again, what is interesting or significant in one society may not be interesting or significant in another. The content of the news may be different, therefore, in different societies, but the way it is identified will be the same.

Is it about people?

Most news is automatically about people, because it is the things people do to change the world which makes news.

However, news can also be made by non-human sources, such as a cyclone, a bush fire, a drought, a volcanic eruption or an earthquake. It is when reporting these stories that it is important to make sure that the story is centred on people.

The cyclone would not matter if it blew itself out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, away from any inhabited islands; the fire could burn for as long as it likes in bush where nobody lives; the Sahara Desert has a near-permanent drought, but in most of it nobody is there to rely on rains; a volcanic eruption or an earthquake which damages nobody's property and injures nobody is really not news.

All these natural disasters only become news when they affect people's lives. Every story can be told in terms of people. Always start by asking yourself the question: "How does this affect my readers', listeners' or viewers’ lives?"

Whenever you have a story which tells of how something has happened which affects both people and property, always put the people first

RIGHT: More than 100 people were left homeless after Cyclone Victor struck Suva yesterday.

WRONG: Seventeen houses were flattened when Cyclone Victor struck Suva yesterday.

Where does news come from?

Now we know what makes news. The following are the main areas of life in which we expect frequently to find news stories. For each category below, think of at least one event or situation which could make a news story in your own society.

Conflicts: This category includes wars, strikes, revolutions, secessionist groups, tribal and clan fights, elections and the power battles of politics.

Disaster and tragedy: This may include air crashes, train crashes, ships sinking, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, or human tragedies like children falling down deep wells from which they cannot be rescued.

Progress and development: Development is always news in a developing country. The report should be always of how the changes affect people's lives, for better or for worse. New ideas or progress in one area may stimulate ideas in another. Development stories may include education, the development of new technology, improvement of farming techniques, road building and irrigation schemes. Citizens of more developed countries may also appreciate stories about developments in things which affect their lives or well-being, such as medical breakthroughs, new technologies or initiatives to make transport easier, quicker or cheaper.

Crime: Any crime can be news, whether it is a road traffic offence, break and enter, corruption, forgery, rape or murder - but more serious crimes or unusual crimes generally make bigger news stories.

Money: These stories include fortunes made and lost, school fees, taxes, the Budget, food prices, wage rises, economic crises and compensation claims.
It is not only large sums of money which make news; the little girl who gives her only ten cents to a huge fund-raising event is more interesting than the businessman who gives $100.

The underdog: This is one of the great themes of literature and drama (David and Goliath, the Hare and the Tortoise, Cinderella). One traditional role of the journalist is to defend the rights of the little person - the soldier against the unjust officer, the innocent man against false charges, the poor against exploitation.

Religion: There are two types of religious news story. First, there are events involving people's religious lives, such as the building of a new church or a pilgrimage. Second, there are statements by religious leaders on moral and spiritual affairs, such as contraception or salvation. It is important for the journalist to be aware of the relative numerical strengths of Christianity, Islam and other religions - including traditional local beliefs - in his or her country. The importance of a statement by a religious leader in your society depends both upon the news value of what he has to say and upon the size of his following.

Famous people: Prominent men and women make news. What people in the public eye do, the lives they lead and what they look like, are all of interest. It is especially newsworthy when they fall from power, lose their money or are involved in scandal.

Health: Many people are concerned with their health, so they are interested in stories about traditional remedies, medical research, diseases, hospitals and clinics, drugs, diet and exercise.

Sex: All societies are interested in sex, even if they do not talk about it openly. Many news stories about sex involve behaviour which goes outside society's generally accepted standards.

Weather: The weather may affect the daily routine of people and is of interest when it behaves unusually, with exceptionally high or low temperatures, or exceptionally high or low rainfall.

Food and drink: The rich person plans feasts, the poor person wants enough to eat and drink. Shortages and gluts, crop diseases and harvest sizes, prices of food in the market or the launch of a new brand of beer - these all make news.

Entertainment: Stories about music, dance, theatre, cinema and carving keep us informed of developments in the arts, who is doing what, who is performing where, and what it is worth going to see or hear.

Sport: Many people participate in sport and many others are spectators. They all want to know sports results, news of sportsmen and sportswomen and their achievements.

Human interest: There are often unusual and interesting aspects of other people's lives which are not particularly significant to society as a whole. Stories about these are called human interest stories. Examples might be a child going abroad for surgery; a pilot recovering from injuries received in an air crash and determined to fly again; or a man with a collection of a million picture postcards.

News and entertainment

Most people agree that the purpose of the news media - newspapers, magazines, radio and television - is to inform, to educate and to entertain. However, the purpose of the news itself is to inform and to educate your readers, listeners or viewers.

The entertainment can come from other areas - music and drama programs on radio; cartoons and crossword puzzles in newspapers. It is not the job of news to entertain.

This does not mean that news should be dull. If a news event has an element of humour, you should always try to write the story in a way to amuse your readers or listeners.
Nevertheless, the news should only be reported if it is real news. Do not report non-news as if it was news only because the story is entertaining.

As you gain more experience, you may be able to write things which are purely entertaining - such as a humorous look at current events. This is not news, however, and should not be presented as if it was.

Make it clear to your readers or listeners what is news and what is not.