第一周 关于新闻的基础知识.docVIP

Chapter One Basic Knowledge about News News and Society News is all around us, permeating our lives. Whether it is the extraordinary events of Wenchuan earthquake of May 12, 2008, or everyday occurrences such as the weather. News is information that helps us expand our lives and order the society in which we live. News is a vital ingredient of the mix of an open society. For individuals, news tells us about ourselves, helps us make decisions, and gives us a common pool of knowledge. In the larger society, news helps to confirm the assumptions on which our society is based. News Values What makes an event or topic news? The same thing could happen to two people in two different places, and one could be a news story and the other would not. For example, if you were involved in a minor automobile accident in which there were no injuries, the incident probably would not appear in your local newspaper. If the president were involved in the same type of accident, it would probably be the first story on all the nightly newscasts. The separation of events into “news” and “not news” categories is a function of what we call news values. Impact Events that change people’s lives are classified as news. Although the event itself might involve only a few people, the consequences may be wide-ranging. For example, changes of national political situation and national policies, the development of war, major economic news, major technological breakthrough, noticeable changes of weather, natural disasters, and diseases and so on. Timeliness Timeliness is a value common to almost all news stories. It refers to the recency of an event. Without the element of timelines, most events cannot be considered news. For example, a trial that occurred last year is not news; a trial that is going on right now may be a news. Prominence The president of the People’s Republic of China is a prime example. Whenever he takes a trip—even for purely personal and private reasons—his movements are cove