Where does news come from?

News stories can be sourced via international news agencies such as the Associated Press and Reuters, but many newspaper stories come from or .

Trusted confidential contacts are often used by journalists to get information, this might be about a person involved in a story or inside information about industries or organisations.

Anyone can be a potential source of information from a taxi driver to a company boss.

What is 'news value'?

Newspapers select stories on their value for attracting readers. A newspaper's news agenda will reflect the style, and of the newspaper.

The people responsible for deciding on the news agenda are called , they are usually the newspaper owner, the editor or senior journalists.

Media researchers Galtung and Ruge identified a number of factors that help stories make the headlines. Here are some of the most significant factors they pinpointed:

Factor	Effect
Recency	Important breaking news such as a terror attack is reported with immediacy. Breaking news is very competitive with newspapers keen to be the first to report things as they happen.
Size	The bigger the story, the more people it affects. A bomb with many casualties is more news worthy than a hoax bomb alert.
Continuity	An ongoing news event like war will continue to be reported on.
Simplicity	Simple stories which are easy to explain (huge lottery wins, celebrity deaths, road accidents) will be preferred to those which are more complex (foreign wars, economic stories, long-term court cases).
Elite nations or people	In the UK a story about the American president or an American social issue is more likely to be reported on than a story about less influential countries and their leaders.
Predictability	An anti-war demonstration is likely to be eventful so journalists will cover the event. This means that it will be reported on, even if it passes off peacefully.
Unexpectedness	Something out of the ordinary has more news value than something that happens every day.
Negativity	Bad news is more likely to make the headlines than good news.
Personality	A story about a celebrity or a heroic member of the general public will have a human interest angle.
Meaningfulness	How close to home is the story, is there a local connection?

Factor	Recency
Effect	Important breaking news such as a terror attack is reported with immediacy. Breaking news is very competitive with newspapers keen to be the first to report things as they happen.

Factor	Size
Effect	The bigger the story, the more people it affects. A bomb with many casualties is more news worthy than a hoax bomb alert.

Factor	Continuity
Effect	An ongoing news event like war will continue to be reported on.

Factor	Simplicity
Effect	Simple stories which are easy to explain (huge lottery wins, celebrity deaths, road accidents) will be preferred to those which are more complex (foreign wars, economic stories, long-term court cases).

Factor	Elite nations or people
Effect	In the UK a story about the American president or an American social issue is more likely to be reported on than a story about less influential countries and their leaders.

Factor	Predictability
Effect	An anti-war demonstration is likely to be eventful so journalists will cover the event. This means that it will be reported on, even if it passes off peacefully.

Factor	Unexpectedness
Effect	Something out of the ordinary has more news value than something that happens every day.

Factor	Negativity
Effect	Bad news is more likely to make the headlines than good news.

Factor	Personality
Effect	A story about a celebrity or a heroic member of the general public will have a human interest angle.

Factor	Meaningfulness
Effect	How close to home is the story, is there a local connection?

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NewspapersWhere does news come from?