News values

News Values

How has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?


Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on Twitter or elsewhere online. However, this in turn changes the approach of other news sources such as newspapers as the news will probably already be broken by the time the paper is published so different angles might be required.

Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain? Through the new and digital media we've become more aware of new stories from all over the globe. Everyone becomes familiar with news from other countries, people from the U.K are aware of what happens in LEDC (less economically developed countries) countries, as well as MEDC (more economically developed countries) countries such as in USA or even Japan through the use of the internet. 

Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people? 

If it is a big event people are more aware of it, big is defined through the amount of people killed not like 100, if it is like 10,000 people it would involve a large number of people, as the event has affected a large number of people, and involves others being concerned. Information is posted on the internet through new and digital media and people become aware, and the user generated content is passed on significantly fast. 

Frequency:  did the event happen fairly quickly? 

Events which happen fairly quickly are the ones which are witnessed by citizen journalists, as they record the event with their mobile phones and are eye-witnesses of that scene, and then it is too late for other news reporters to get hold of it, as it may not be occurring at the time they  arrive. 

Unambiguity: is it clear and definite? 

It has to be clear and definite, it may lead to other users posting up things which are untrue, and they would have found this information out through other user generated content. Information is posted up on several websites and forums which may not be clear and may not complete the picture of the story. 

Predictability: did we expect it to happen? 

If the event was expected to happen then it would lead to a build up of ideas, and there would have been several work been done to cover that event. Information would've been passed through social networking sites about the event and how likely it would be for it to occur.

Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event? 

If the event is rare or unexpected it would mean people would be shocked when they hear about the news and it would spread really fast through social media forums, in order to inform everyone about it. 

Continuity: has this story already been defined as news? 

If the story has already been defined as news, then it would be continued to be done as that. The internet holds a big role as it allows certain news to go on for a period of time, and it goes viral on several sites. 

Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?

Depending on where the event happened and who it concerns it is made page 1 on newspapers to an extent, or even the other pages, which people may not even view depending on the importance and connection of the countries. However, if it involves well-known people such as celebrities it would go viral on the internet and everyone will be informed about it, through many social networking sites. 

Negativity: is it bad news? 

If the news is bad it would mean people would talk about it more, and they would have more to say about it, it would raise arguments and create confusion onto what actual happened, as there would be no answer for the users, so they would make up their own views and opinions and debates would be caused. 

Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death

Stories which are selected to balance other stories are done so people don't think everything that happens is negative and there is some positives in the world.