The 5W's and News Values

The 5W's are used by journalists as a way for getting the full story across to the reader. While researching about News Stories it was evident that every story consists of the 5W's. The 5W's are the information audiences expect to be in the information when reading or listening to the news. Often the news stories will cover the 5W's in the beginning of the story. 

The 5W's consist of:

WHO is it about?

WHAT happened?

WHERE did it happen?

WHEN did it take place?

WHY did it happen?

HOW did it happen? 

Now that I know what the 5 W's are and how they define news stories, I now understand how i will have to have to use it when creating my own News Stories for my final task. 

News Values are a way of determining which stories are more important for the audience to listen to. Normally during the News on the radio there is not as much time as their is when watching the News on the Television so the stations have to cram the most important news stories in in a short time slot. This is why the News Values are very important so that the news presenter can differentiate between what news stories are more valuable to the audience.   

The News Values are: 
Immediacy - Has it happened recently? is it "Breaking News"
Familiarity - Is it culturally or geographically close to us?
Amplitude - Is it a big event or one which involves a lot of people?
Frequency - Does the event happen often?
Impact - Does the story have a profound effect on us?
Predictability - Did we expect it to happen?
Surprise - Is it an unusual or unexpected event?
Continuity - Is it part of an ongoing story?
Conflict - Does the story contain drama in  describing disagreements, fights or battles between two organisations? 
Elite People - Does the story concern well known people, such as celebrities or people in the public eye? 
Personalisation - Is it a human interest story?
Negativity - Is it bad news? 
Scandal - Is the story likely to provoke moral outrage?
Balance - Does the story balance out the others?