This document discusses news values according to Galtung and Ruge, including impact, frequency, negativity, unexpectedness, unambiguity, audience identification, personalization, meaningfulness, and pragmatics of media coverage. It analyzes how a sample news story meets the thresholds of frequency, negativity, and unambiguity, allows audience identification through personalization and meaningfulness, and has continuity as a running story.

1. News values

2. Galtung and Ruge’s news values
Impact
Threshold: If a story effects a large group of
people it is much more likely to make it into the
paper. This is also the case in local news with
newspapers addressing stories which effect the
community.
Frequency: The suddenness of events such as
murders, motorway pile-ups fit in with the
newspaper’s schedule.
Negativity: Typically, bad news is reported on
more often than good news. These will more
likely address other values.
Unexpectedness: Out of the ordinary stories will
more likely make it into the news.
Unambiguity: Easy to grasp events are much
more appealing to the majority of newsreaders
than stories that require interpretation.
This particular story covers
Threshold, Frequency,
Negativity and
unexpectedness.
Frequency, negativity and
Unambiguity are covered
here.

3. Audience identification
Personalisation: From a human
interest angle a local newspaper
would focus on those who
contribute to the community or
do something else of note.
Meaningfulness: Relates to the
cultural proximity and the extent
to which the audience identifies
with the topic. This topic may
cause an emotional response.
The headline covers both
of these. The topic features
both a human interest
element and audiences can
identify with it.

4. Pragmatics of media
coverage
Continuity: Stories such as
these can gain
momentum. Events which
have occurred in the local
community become a
running story. Also,
because they have been
previously reported on,
they tend to be more
easily accessible to the
public.
Stories with a human
interest element are
featured on the front
page.