What Makes Something News?

What Is News, Anyway?

Every morning, thousands of things happen in your city. A dog finds a lost child. A pothole opens on Main Street. A city council member votes to cut the school budget. Your neighbor wins a baking contest. A hurricane hits the coast.

Some of these become news stories. Others don't.

Why? That's the question professional journalists ask dozens of times a day — and it's the first skill you'll develop as a reporter for your school newspaper.

News is information that matters to a community. It helps people understand their world, make decisions, and hold powerful people accountable. A good news story answers a question the audience didn't even know it was asking: "Wait — what's happening? And how does that affect me?"

The Five Criteria of Newsworthiness

Journalists don't decide what's news randomly. They use a set of shared criteria — a mental checklist — to evaluate whether a story is worth telling. A strong story hits several of these at once.

1. Timeliness News is new. Something that happened yesterday is more newsworthy than something that happened last month. That's why newspapers are dated and websites show timestamps. When your school changes its lunch policy starting Monday, that's timely.

2. Proximity People care more about things that happen close to them. A school board decision in your district matters more to your readers than a school board decision three states away. "Local angle" means finding how a bigger story connects to your community.

3. Impact How many people does this affect? How significantly? A new state law that changes how students are graded affects every student in your state — high impact. A new flavor of ice cream at the school cafeteria affects students who eat there — lower impact, but still relevant to your audience.

4. Prominence Stories about well-known people or institutions attract more attention. An interview with your school principal is more newsworthy than an interview with a random adult. A decision by the mayor affects more people and carries more weight than a decision by a single neighbor.

5. Novelty "Dog bites man" is not news. "Man bites dog" is. The unusual, the unexpected, the first time something has happened — these are inherently interesting. If your school is the first in the district to start a recycling program, that novelty makes it newsworthy.

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Concept Check

Your school's cafeteria staff is going on strike next week, meaning students may have no hot lunch for five days. Which newsworthiness criteria does this story hit?

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Timeliness (it's happening next week), proximity (it's your school), impact (affects every student who eats lunch), and prominence (the cafeteria is a major school institution). It might also have novelty if a cafeteria strike has never happened before.

News vs. Opinion vs. Entertainment

Your school paper — like every real newspaper — should contain different types of content. Knowing the difference is essential.

News reporting presents facts, quotes, and verified information. The reporter's own opinion stays out of it. A news story about the cafeteria strike describes what's happening, who's involved, and what it means — without telling readers what to think about it.

Opinion and editorial writing argues for a point of view. It's clearly labeled as opinion. An editorial might argue that the school administration should negotiate with cafeteria workers fairly — that's a position, and readers know it's one person's or the editorial board's view.

Entertainment content is meant to engage and delight. Reviews, humor columns, puzzles, and sports recaps all fall here. They inform, but their primary job is enjoyment.

The problem comes when these categories get mixed up — when a reporter sneaks their opinion into a news story, or when an opinion piece pretends to be neutral reporting. That confusion erodes trust, which is the most valuable thing a news organization has.

Why Communities Need Journalists

Imagine your school had no student newspaper. No one covering school board meetings. No one asking the principal why the new schedule was changed. No one investigating whether the dress code is applied fairly to different groups of students.

That's a community flying blind.

Journalism performs a function that no other institution does: it systematically investigates, verifies, and publishes information that helps communities govern themselves. The school paper is not just a class project. It is a real publication that real students read. Stories you write will matter to real people.

This is called the Fourth Estate — the idea that a free press is as essential to democracy as the government branches themselves. At the school level, your paper is part of that tradition.

The School Paper Is a Real Newspaper

Some students treat the school paper as a lower-stakes version of real journalism. It isn't. You have real readers. You can make real mistakes that affect real people. You can also do real good — exposing problems, celebrating achievements, and giving your community information it needs.

That means you'll operate by the same standards as professional journalists:

• Verify before you publish. If you can't confirm it, you don't print it.
• Get both sides. If your story reflects negatively on someone, give them a chance to respond.
• Correct mistakes quickly and honestly.
• Protect sources who ask for confidentiality.
• Separate your job from your friendships — you cover the news, not just the people you like.

These standards aren't bureaucratic rules. They're what makes your reporting trustworthy — and trustworthy reporting is what gives your paper power.

Who Decides What's News?

You might be wondering: who actually makes the call? In professional newsrooms, editors make those decisions. They weigh the criteria above, consider what their audience needs, and allocate reporters accordingly.

At your school paper, those decisions belong to your editorial board — and eventually, as you gain experience, to you. This is real editorial judgment, not just an exercise. When you decide something is worth covering, you're making the same kind of call that shapes what millions of people know about their world.

That means the criteria matter — but so does perspective. Not every community has the same definition of proximity, prominence, or impact. Stories that matter deeply to some students might be invisible to reporters who don't share their experiences. Strong editorial teams seek out a variety of perspectives when deciding what to cover, precisely because any single reporter sees only part of the picture.

Your Assignment: News Audit

Before next class, find three things in your community that you think could be news stories. For each one, write two sentences:

1. What happened (or is happening)?
2. Which newsworthiness criteria does it hit?

Bring your list to class. You'll be pitching these to your editorial board.