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Mass communication

Journalism
Introduction
Journalism is a profession of writing for newspaper and magazines.
Two important works are done:
1. collection of news
2. dissemination of information
Journalist: One who is attached to the profession of journalism is called
journalist.
Journalism is gathering, processing, and dissemination of news and
information related to the news to an audience.
The word applies to both the method of inquiring for news and the literary
style which is used to disseminate it.
In a democratic society, however, access to free information plays a central
role in creating a system of checks and balance, and in distributing power
equally amongst governments, businesses, individuals, and other social
entities.
Access to verifiable information gathered by independent media sources,
which adhere to journalistic standards, can also be of service to ordinary
citizens.

Importance of Journalism:
Journalism is an import profession. Its importance can not be denied in
modern world. It is universally acknowledged that pen is mightier than
sword. Journalism is highly important because
1. It protects society from aggression.
2. It becomes the voice of society and dont let any one to exploit it.
3. It protects human rights.
4. It serves a s mirror and project the images of politician and leaders etc.
5. It challenges act of autocracy and dictatorship
6. World has become global village, people stay connected through mass
media around the world.

Consumers of journalism:
1. Public masses
2. government
3. NGOs
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Organizations
youngsters
professionals
businessman
students etc

Functions of journalism:
following are the functions of journalism
1. Provide information
2. Influence people through opinions, advertisements, editorials etc.
3. Provide entertainment
4. Advertisement takes place
5. Educational function ( provide education to people on various topics)
6. Provide latest NEWS
7. Image building role ( it build image of a person as good or bad)
8. Defend propagandas of anti-state elements.
9. Builds public opinion.

The elements of journalism

According to The Elements of Journalism, a book by Bill Kovach and Tom
Rosenstiel, there are nine elements of journalism [1]. In order for a journalist
to fulfill their duty of providing the people with the information, they need to
be free and self-governing. They must follow these guidelines:
1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
3. Its essence is discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting, and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
10. Its the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
In the April 2007 edition of the book [2], they added the last element, the
rights and responsibilities of citizens to make it a total of ten elements
of journalism.

Guiding principles of Journalism:

Following are the guiding principles of journalism.
1. Journalist should always adopt rationale approach.
2. He should be neutral and impartial.
3. He should have a broad vision for journalism.
4. Journalist should remain updated with current events.

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5. He should be scientific in his approach.

6. He should be professionally trained.
7. Journalist should be a patriot, familiar with norm, culture and taboos of
society.
8. He should perform his duties in highest public interest.

Difference between journalism and mass communication

Journalism is about news reading, reporting and writing.
Journalism is a profession of reporting,editing,photographing and presenting
news.
Main component of Journalism is to Communicate the data/information.that
is called Communication in Journalism.
Though Mass Communication is a part of the profession journalism,Yet In
modern terminology,journalism is called Mass Communication.
Because in Mass communication,Modern equipments are used to broadcast
news.
Mass Communication is for large group of audience.
Mass communication is a broader term which includes also Journalism,
Advertisement, Anchoring,Radio, Television, Newspaper, magazines.

MASS COMMUNICATION
Sending message to a large number of audience using technology is
known as mass communication
Communication sending of a message from one person to another, in
simplest terms - has been one of the oldest characteristics of human life.
Basic Concepts of Communication
Well, the word communication has its origin in the Latin word COMMUNIS
which stands for common or to create commonness with the people around
you.
This is possible when you share your feelings and ideas with others.
According to commonly used definition,
communication is transfer of message from sender to receiver

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through a channel.
A process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a
common system of symbols,signs or behaviours.

Elements of communication
Source: "information source", which "produces a message or sequence of
messages to be communicated to the receiving terminal.
Sender: who encodes or "transmitter", which "operates on the message in
some way to produce a signal
suitable for transmission over the channel
Channel: the channel is "merely the medium used to transmit the signal
from transmitter to receiver.
Receiver: who decodes or the receiver "performs the inverse operation of
that done by the transmitter,
reconstructing the message from the signal.
Destination: the destination is "the person (or thing) for whom the message
is intended".
Message: The message is a verbal, written, recorded, or visual form to the
recipient
Feedback
Entropic elements, positive and negative

Essentials for Effective communication

Effective Message:short precise and concise.
Constructed according to socio economic background.
Suitable medium or channel.
Gaining the audience.
Holding the audience .
Influencing the audience.
Frame of reference Age, sex, education, financial position,
race, taste, religion, culture,tradition, attitude .
Personality needs.

Types of Communication (Social point of view)

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1. Intra-personal :It is the basis of all other forms of human communication.

within an individual our eyes and ear communication to our brain
2. Inter-personal : Face to Face communication
3. Extra Personal Communication: in this we share our communication with
other life forms i.e: animals and plants.
4. Mass communication

Barriers of Communication
Noise.
Physical.
Psychological.
Language / Semantic barriers.
Cultural barrier .
Meaning of meaning .
Blind imitation / Stereotype thinking.
Restricted / Limited experience .

Effective Communication:
Communication can be considered to be effective when the receiver
understands the message sent by the sender and gives a feedback to the
sender.
Effective communication also ensures that the message sent by the sender is
not distorted in any manner while it is transmitted.

The Communication Process

The goal of communication is to convey informationand the understanding
of that informationfrom one person or group to another person or group.
This communication process is divided into three basic components:
A sender transmits a message through a channel to the receiver.
(Figure shows a more elaborate model.)
The sender first develops an idea,
which is composed into a message and then
transmitted to the other party,
who interprets the message and receives meaning.

The two-way communication process

In an effective two-way communication the sender (or source):
encodes the message into a form the receiver will understand
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relays the message via an appropriate channel.

The receiver is then able to:
access the message
decode the message.
The receiver in turn becomes the sender,
providing an appropriate response,
and the process continues until the communication concludes.
Source
At any time in the process, a lack of response or an inappropriate response
would alert the sender to a problem with the communication. The sender
would then need to encode the message differently, or use a different
channel to ensure that the communication is received and understood.

Effective communication is a continuous and cyclic

process/procedure
1. We are constantly decoding signs from our environment.
2. Communication has no starting and end point.
3. It passes through various sources but changed by the interpretation,
habits, abilities and capabilities of each source.
All of us communicate with a purpose.
It may be to inform, share an idea, persuade or entertain.

Functions of MASS COMMUNICATION

Basic functions of mass communication can be divided into broad three
classes: informing, persuading and entertaining.
Informing /Education : The most important function of mass communication
is dissemination of information to the public primary through news mediaelectronic and print.
about new events, products, changes in policies, ideas, philosophies and so
forth.

Interpretation/surveillance:
Interpretation function is closely related with the surveillance function.
It prevents undesirable consequences of communication.
Now-a-days, mass communicators have realized their responsibility to
evaluate and interpret events for the reader.
They select the important news and issues for the attention of the people
and provide information on the ultimate meaning and significance of these
events.
the editorial pages of newspapers and magazines interpret the event,
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comment or opine on it so that the reader gains an added perspective on the

event.

Transmission of Values: (socialization function)

Our society is portrayed in the mass media and by seeing, watching or
reading this people learn which are the important values.

Persuading: Persuasion is another function of mass

media.
Because of its having persuasive potential, both electronic and print media
are used for advertising products, services, business, charities, or for political
campaign.
Entertaining: Entertainment is the most common function of mass
communication.
include comics, crossword puzzles and the like. Televisions may show
situation comedies, drama, variety shows, etc. Radio entertainment primarily
consists of music, talk shows, etc.

The two-step flow of communication or Multistep Flow

Model,
says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion
leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. So according to this
model, ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a
wider population.
Also known as the Multistep Flow Model is a theory based on a 1940s study
on social influence that states that media effects are indirectly established
through the personal influence of opinion leaders.
The majority of people receive much of their information and are influenced
by the media secondhand, through the personal influence of opinion leaders.

Advertising:
Today's world is known as the world of advertising. It is the backbone of
media industry. Both business and advertising go hand in hand. There can be
no business without advertising and there can be no advertising without
business.

WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

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Advertising is a paid communication through a medium in which the sponsor

is identified and the message is controlled. Variations include publicity, public
relations, product placement, sponsorship, underwriting, and sales
promotion
Hence, it may be defined as any paid form of non-personal presentation of
ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.
Advertising is the paid, non-personal promotion of a cause, idea, product, or
service by an identified sponsor attempting to inform or persuade a
particular target audience.
The various delivery mechanisms for advertising include banners at sporting
events, billboards, Internet Web sites, logos on clothing, magazines,
newspapers, radio spots, and television commercials.
The area which benefited the most from the extraordinary growth of mass
media from the seventeenth century is advertising.
Advertising generally means announcing new products and services with
commercial interest and which people can use as part of their daily life.

CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERTISING
Consumer Audience
They are sponsored by the manufacturer or the dealer of a product. They are
usually directed at the ultimate consumer.
Business Advertising
Advocacy Advertising
Advocacy advertising is normally thought of as any advertisement, message,
or public communication regarding economic, political, or social issues. The
advertising campaign is designed to persuade public opinion regarding a
specific issue important in the public arena.

FUNCTIONS Of Advertising
Functions of advertising can be as follows:
Marketing functions

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Communication functions
Education functions
Economic functions
Social functions

PRINCIPLES OF ADVERTISING
The purpose of an ad campaign is to bring in new clients, buyers, users, and
customers. That can be hard, especially today, when people are more
conscious about what they are buying.
Here are 10 principles of what an effective ad may consist of. Keep in mind
that there are many different types of advertisements, and not all of these
tips apply to every advertisement.
1. Attract the Audience
A good advertisement must captivate people at the first look. Your ad should
be so striking that it must hold someone who glances at it even for just a
moment. Make people take a second glance instead of simply passing by. An
excellent ad will make almost everyone look at it.
2. Be Creative
Though it's like a mantra, yet it is very true. It is inevitable to be smart in an
ad campaign. It attracts people and represents the brand in a positive way.
Think about it. A clever ad represents a clever company.
3. Be 'Loud'
The louder you talk, the more people hear you.
The same concept applies to advertising. You want your ad to say something,
and you want it to be heard.
A loud advertisement isn't just a big one, though. It can be achieved in
many ways.
4. Convey Comprehensive Message
One of the common guidelines is to make the message so comprehensive,
precise and to the point that it doesn't allow people to take too much time to
ponder upon.

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5. Colour It!
Colour choice is an important aspect of advertisements.
You must make colours work with the feeling of the brand.
Your colours must also be in synch with the environment in which the ad is
being placed.
Appeal to the targeted people through colours, but don't make them
distracting.
If you are making an illustration for a fun brand, use a collaboration of
bright colours while with a more serious ad, use a simpler colour scheme.
6. Be Informative
Your advertisement must provide brief information about the product and it
must convey a message.
7. Stand Out and Be Memorable
A good ad must also have two essential components, so you should be:
(i) unique
(ii) memorable
Your ad should be unique and completely different than anyone else.
8. Give off a Feeling
Every company or brand has its peculiar mood or tone. You need to present
that, too, in the advertisement. It should be so striking that any one may
recognize the company immediately.
9. Show, Don't Tell
An advertisement which shows the audience instead of telling them the
product, is the only successful one. Try using a more visual way of
representing a concept instead of text.
10. Be Humorous and Metaphorical
Humour is an effective tool to attract people to an ad. Metaphors can be a
great way to add humour. Though it's not always appropriate, and
sometimes it just doesn't work, but when it works, it does wonders.

How Social Media Changed the World

When Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched facebook.com in February
2004, even he could not have imagined the forces it would unleash. His
intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website
rapidly evolved into, ended up connecting the world.
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Introduction:
We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on facebook; we share
our political views, social preferences and plans.
We post intimate photographs of ourselves.
With increased internet penetration in Pakistan, the youth of the country has
taken enthusiastically to connecting and socializing via social media
networks.
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr, Blogsphere, and other platforms have
provided people with forums to interact, to share their stories, information,
personal experiences, etc.
The enormous global outreach potential has made social media hugely
important in the contemporary world.

Research has shown that in Pakistan,

39% of teens posted thing(s) which they later regretted,
37% used sites to make fun of others,
29% created a fake profile while
13% posted nude or seminude pictures or videos of themselves or others
online.
Over 30% school students have been identified as victims, whereas
15-22% of them confess that they had bullied others.
Due to mobile phones, laptops etc. the opportunities are endless.
In addition, anonymity of fake profiles further aggravates the situation.
Internet has revolutionized the way we interact.
In recent years, the most dominant buzz has been the rise of social
networking.
Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have
overwhelmed almost all aspects of modern life.
They have altered altogether the way information is exchanged, relationships
are formed and free time is killed.
They have provided untold possibilities for the online world and yet as the
internet has aged and its users have begun to adapt, a darker underworld

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has emerged.
28% of the 20 million Pakistanis online are on LinkedIn, instagram, twitter
and other outlets, with Facebook grabbing the major chunk with 8.5 million
users as in April 2013.
A recent survey has revealed that the use of social media in Pakistan grew by
60% in 2014.
Presently, 60-70% of youth is active user of the internet.
Out of them, 51% check their updates more than once a day while 22% do so
even more than 10 times a day.
In Pakistan, the penetration of social media is constantly on the rise perhaps
due to affordable as well as speedy connectivity offered by different service
providers.

Positive Impacts Of Social Media

Getting back to the bright side, major changes are happening in fields such
as health care because of social media.
Already, by analysing Google searches, researchers can track the spread of
disease across the world.
Patients are able to converse with others who have had the same ailment as
they now have and learn which remedies or methods worked for others and
which did not.
People all over the world are providing each other with advice and moral
support.
The marketers are also seeing big opportunities.
Amazon is trying to predict what we will order.
Google is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media
profiles; it wants to be our personal assistant.
We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to mitigate the dangers.

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This new and greater access, no doubt, led to empowerment of people where
everyone had equal access to show his/her sentiments and opinions.
The main intent behind the progression of social media was to provide
people with such forums where they could express their ideas and opinions
with a relative ease and freedom.
This vibrant new society surprised everyone with the power of communitybuilding by organizing people with different races and communities under
one common cause.
Its greatest manifestation was the Arab Spring where dissenting youth used
Twitter and Facebook to unite the like-minded people and to quickly
disseminate information in order to plan and organize massive countrywide
protests.
Even autocratic governments in Gulf had to give in to the pressure of
protestors demanding change.
Social media also filled in the vacuum of electronic media where, for vested
interests or want of commercial value, the latter ignored just voices of the
aggrieved and dejected people.
Shahzeb murder case from Karachi where electronic media didn't highlight
this issue until a massive movement started on social media.
It built so much pressure that the apex court had to intervene and suspects
were brought to the book.
social media has affected our relationships and how wasting billions of hours
purposelessly on social media has made us actually antisocial,
Admittedly, the youth learns fast through social media and is using it mostly
for constructive purposes.

Negative Impacts Of Social Media

It is commonly addictive and provides a tool for stalking children.
Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere
to solicit and brainwash recruits.

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And it exposes us and our friends to unsavoury spying.

We may leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but
through social media, we tell criminals who may want to rob us exactly
where we are, when we plan to return home and how to blackmail us.
No spy agency or criminal organisation could actively gather the type of data
that we voluntarily post for them.
Social media is fast changing the aspirations and values of our youth.
New generation is getting so engaged with social media that they
spend hardly any time with their elders.
They are more interested to know what's happening in their fave star's life
rather than their own family.
They never falter in updating their 'status' or 'recent activity'.
For family, they don't have time.
It is being apprehended by sociologists and other observers that face-to-face
interaction will diminish soon mainly due to these 'killer' technologies.
Studies have shown that social media is actually hampering people's ability
to interact in an offline setting.
But those who adopt it as the only medium fail to develop social
competency.
The quality of relationships and the strength of connections are weakening.
Failed relationships and broken bonds.
Social media, undoubtedly, brings people together.
Divorces have increased by nearly 20% due to social media sites.
A site that connects old friends, allows users to make new ones as well.
'flirt' not knowing where it would lead.
unfortunate rise of cyber bullying;
a social concern that has taken previous forms of harassment to an
altogether new level.
A huge majority of social networkers share personal pictures and information
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which can be misused.

Nevertheless, the problem arises when its use becomes excessive and
people become its addicts.
Social media is a trap that entangles our youngsters who get so much
involved in it that it becomes a primary way of their interactions.
Now, they prefer to contact through social media.
They meet each other in educational institutions and discuss the data
uploads.
While chatting with their friends, they forget their other important activities
and responsibilities.
This is just the wastage of precious time.

Recommendations
This growing peril demands a swift action from those at the helm of affairs as
well as from civil society.
Surely, a crackdown against social media, like in case of Youtube, won't be a
wise option.
Unlike Gulf States, where courts have sentenced people for dissent on social
media, we need a crackdown against these fake profiles.
Facebook and Twitter may be asked to link user accounts on these sites to
mobile numbers used in Pakistan by these users.
It would remove the anonymity and facelessness from these warriors and at
least they would realize that their real identities are known to everyone
and they will have to face the music for their 'shares'.
All the political parties and their leadership should tighten their filter against
fake profiles and abusive posts.
Political parties especially need to denounce and condemn in clear words any
such e-Brigades that are tarnishing their names as well.
It is their responsibility to cultivate in their workers a sense to abide by the
moral and ethical values and societal norms while professing their political
agendas.

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Moreover, as a society we need to teach our youth that argumentation

doesn't imply fighting rather
it's a constructive debate based on empirical evidence, objective analysis
and logical reasoning.
We also need to realize the implications of 'sharing' a post without checking
its authenticity.
Social media and internet are meant to be a boon. Let us not make it a bane
for our society.
Social media has become such an important part of our society that using it
in a negative way will only set us back.
It has enhanced online communities.
The future of social media is still unknown.
We, as a society, can still control the situation.
We must push forward and continue to incorporate social media in more
positive ways.

Article vs Column
Article
An article discusses current or recent news of either general interest (i.e.
daily newspapers) or of a specific topic (i.e. political or trade news
magazines, club newsletters, or technology news websites).
A news article can include accounts of eye witnesses to the happening
event.
It can contain photographs, accounts, statistics, graphs, recollections,
interviews, polls, debates on the topic, etc.
Headlines can be used to focus the readers attention on a particular (or
main) part of the article.
The writer can also give facts and detailed information following answers to
general questions like who, what, when, where, why and how.
Quoted references can also be helpful.
References to people can also be made through written accounts of

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interviews and debates confirming the factuality of the writers information

and the reliability of his source.
The writer can use redirection to ensure that the reader keeps reading the
article and to draw her attention to other articles.
While a good conclusion is an important ingredient for newspaper articles,
the immediacy of a deadline environment means that copy editing often
takes the form of deleting everything past an arbitrary point in the story
corresponding to the dictates of available space on a page.
Therefore, newspaper reporters are trained to write in inverted pyramid
style, with all the most important information in the first paragraph or two.

Column
A column is written weekly, monthly or bi-monthly, and must be focused on
one particular topic.
You have to be consistent in what you write, maintain the same tone of
voice, and stay focused on the issue at hand.
If youre writing a column for the writing parent, dont delve into issues of
parenting in general.
Youre readers will probably be parents who write, and they will be more
interested in learning how to find time for their writing, rather than how to
take care of their children.
When you decide to write a column, make sure that the topic you choose is
of interest to readers and will keep them coming back for more, week after
week.
If your topic is boring or uninteresting, chances are youll have no readers,
and the editor will soon wrap up your column with a short goodbye note.

NEWS:

Man can subsist without newspaper but no newspaper can subsist without
news.
News is the spinal cord of journalism.
The basic assumption of journalism is the collection, presentation and
interpretation of news

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which is meant to inform the people about new and novel.

Definitions of News?
News has been defined differently by different experts. Some of the
definitions are given below:
1. News is anything out of the ordinary (CHANGE)
2. News is something revealed.
3. News is anything that people talk about; the more it excites the greater its
value. ,
4. News comprises all current activities which are of general human interest
and the best news is that which interests most of the reader.
5. Anything that enough people want to read is news provided it does not
violate the canons of good taste and the law of libel.
6. News is like a hot cake coming straight from oven.
7. News is the report of an event that is fresh, unusual and which is
interesting to a greater number of people.

News writing
News writing attempts to answer all the basic questions about any particular
event
who, what, when, where and why (the Five Ws) and also often howat the
opening of the article.
This form of structure is sometimes called the "inverted pyramid", to refer to
the decreasing importance of information in subsequent paragraphs.
News stories also contain at least one of the following important
characteristics relative to the intended audience:
proximity, prominence, timeliness, human interest, oddity, or consequence.

Essentials/QUALITIES/ NEWS VALUES:

ACCURACY:
Factual accuracy means any statement with name ,date.age,address and
quotation.

Balanced:
A reporter must inform his readers with details and gives an account of the
new event in its proper relationship and perspective

Objectivity
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News is the factual report of an event. What the reporter sees is supposed to
report. Objectivity means to report the facts exactly the same way as they
occurred.
It goes against objectivity if the reporter adds something from his own
imagination.
Comment/suggestion or proposal is not the task of a news reporter.
These are considered right in a column, editorial, etc. In these formats of
journalistic writings the writer can provide in-depth and background
information.
In simplest words objectivity means just to report the tip of the iceberg and
leave the rest to analytical and in-depth reporting.

Concise and Clear

There is a famous sentence about writing a news story : Brevity and
simplicity are the soul of journalism.
Journalism has got a special language journalistic language which is quite
different from all other languages and particularly from the literature.
Journalistic language is simple, easy, concise and clear. Its basic aim is to
convey the message in the simplest way to the masses because every
person in the masses is not highly educated.
There is an approved writing style of achieving concision and brevity. Which
is called Inverted pyramid style of news? This news writing style has been
explained in Unit No. 2 of this course.

Characterstics Of News
There are various factors that qualify an event to be a news story. Lets
discuss these factors.
Timeliness/Freshness
Time factor plays an important role in the effectiveness of a news story.
Nobody likes to read an outdated story, even if it is very important. News is
just like a perishable commodity having a very short life.
We can accommodate a past time story in literature, drama, feature, etc..
but it does not work in news. Journalisms famous slogan is that Today news
is today^

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Proximity or Nearness:
The importance of a news greatly depends on the place of its origin.
Proximity in journalism does not only refer to geographical nearness but
interest of nearness is well. For examples, Imran Khans marriage took place
in U.K. but the story is .;iore interesting for the people of this part of the
world.
An earthquake in China killing 200 people will be less important in our
newspapers than the story of earthquake killing 30 persons in Pakistan

Prominence:
Readers have interest in names of persons with whom they are familiar. The
bigger the personality involved in the event, the greater its news value.
Stories of film stars, players, politicians philosophers and poets etc., have
greater news value.

Magnitude:
The event relating to greater loss of life, damage or natural disaster creates
interest for the readers. Example: A story of fire resulting in the death of one
person will have less impact than the story of fire resulting in the death of
100 people.

Conflict:
Everybody takes interest in confrontation among people, nations and groups.
The highest form of conflict is war and no war story fails to create interest for
the readers.

Oddity/Unusualness:
A dog bites a common man is not a news but if a man bites a dog it is a great
news because it is unusual. The more the event is unusual the greater its
value.

Consequence:
The news story that affects some change in the life of people will have great
value. For example, news about budget, rise in petrol price, electricity rates
and increase in salary, etc. are read with great interest by people.

Human interest:
Human interest stories deal with usual events but usually these stories
involve fellow feeling, emotion of brotherhood and humanness.
When a person reads about joy or sorrow of others he mentally associates
himself with them.
Example: A story of a child rescued by a fireman as a seven-storey building
caught fire has greater value than the story of the complete loss of the
building.
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Consonance:
Stories that fit with the media's expectations receive more coverage than
those that defy them (and for which they are thus unprepared). Note this
appears to conflict with unexpectedness above. However, consonance really
refers to the media's readiness to report an item.

Reference to elite nations:

Stories concerned with global powers receive more attention than those
concerned with less influential nations.

Reference to elite persons:

Stories concerned with the rich, powerful, famous and infamous get more
coverage.

Negativity: Bad news is more newsworthy than good news.

There are essentially three origins for a story:
1.Naturally occurring "events" such as disasters, floods, earthquakes, fires,
and airline crashes are inherently unpredictable and journalists must respond
after the fact. News stories about disasters follow a predictable pattern: early
reports, which frequently over estimate the severity of the disaster, rely on
everyday people, because theyre frequently the only witnesses; later
stories, assuming the story is newsworthy enough to become developing
news over several days, tend to rely on officials mayors and governors,
insurance company representatives, disaster relief agency officials. This is a
way the news becomes routinized.
2.Created and "subsidized" news is more frequent than unpredicted news. It
occurs because a person, group or organization either does something public
and newsworthy and/or seeks press attention. Public relations practitioners
participate in the process of news making.
3."Enterprise" news is made when journalists act rather than react as they do
in a disaster or tragedy. This is called enterprise news because the editor or
reporter takes the initiative on a story. These can develop from beat
coverage and investigativejournalism.
FUNCTIONS OF NEWS
A typical newspaper perform following 5 functions.
News function

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Mass communication

Information
Educational function
Opinion making function
Entertainment function

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