Am I worthy enough?

*Lecture 9

What makes a good story? That's what this lecture taught me. But there are so many factors that make a good story. This is probably one of the most useful lectures we have been taught this semester, because it is something that every journalist must know. When coming up with story ideas and such, we need to know what the readers want to read, or else there's not point writing the story. There were many news values and factors of news worthiness suggested in the lecture, but they all pretty much reiterated each other's points. 

The best list provided of these new values, I thought, were:

1. The Power Elite

2. Celebrity

3. Entertainment

4. Suprise

5. Bad News

6. Good News

7. Magnitude

8. Relevance

9. Follow-Up

10. Newspaper Agenda

I think that is the best summation of what makes a good article, because this is what I like to read in an article. That's what I try to do when writing stories, and when coming up with ideas for assignments in both JOUR1111 and JOUR1112. I ask myself "Would I want to read this?" If the answer is yes, and I can argue why it's good, then I can write it. But it turns out, my reasons why it would be good always fell under one of the aforementioned news values. But what this lecture has taught me, is that now I have a guide and a path in which to look for stories, rather than thinking of one, then see if it's any good. Furthermore, a story that combines these news values has greater worthiness in the news room. This means that when looking for stories, the top story is one that combines or crosses over these categories of news values.

Harvey Norman hit by aggressive competition.

I went to brisbanetimes.com.au and found the top story on the site. If you read the story, it comes evident that this story falls under, The Power of Elite, Magnitude and Relevance. This shows the cross over of news values, and because of this combination, it finds itself being the top story at the time. Where as a story like Boyband blasts Britney for being demanding diva finds itself burried in the site as it only falls under one of the news values categories. This demonstrates the ideals discussed in the lecture and how news worthiness dictates what makes a good story and whether a story should be written.