Chapter 4 - A 'know' for news.

Question 1.
According to Conley and Lamble (2006), "Proximity is concerned with the 'where' element" (p. 91).
Australian news outlets gave proximity to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in many ways. The most common way they did this was by stressing how close the islands that were affected were to Australia. I remember alot of televised news reports saying "Just off the coast of Australia."
They also localised this disaster by placing emphasis on Australian's who were affected by the tsunami, either loosing their lives or loved ones.
A final way I remember Australian news outlets giving proximity to this event was by placing prominence on the aid provided by the Australian government to the nations affected.

Question 2.
I believe that this is a type of question where the obvious answer is not correct.
For example, it is an unusual story so one would assume that a reporter would focus on this news value. However, if I was covering this story, I would focus firstly on impact.
Although it does not state that this incident impacted anyone except this woman, in actual fact it did, as it suggests that there is not enough knowledge about mental illness within Austraian society. Consequently, this impacts a large number of ill people and their families.
I would then focus on proximity, as it is a terrible event which occured in our nation.
Finally, the third news value I would focus on would be the unusual aspect of this story.

Question 3.
As a reporter I would feature more prominently on the comment by Prince Charles. This is because this statement has the ability to cause conflict within society, as he is suggesting that the inner-city crime problems may have been caused by building regulations formulated by the city council.
Also, this incident holds the news value of proximity, as Prince Charles is in Australia and commenting about Australia.
In addition, he is obviously a member of the royal family. This means he is highly recognisable on a local, state, national and international basis. Consequently, the news value of prominence is present.
Although option 'a' may tend to convey the news value of impact and will therefore affect alot of people within society, it is clear that the Prince's statement encompasses more values, thus causing me to focus on it.

Question 4.
News : coverage of a recent issue/event that has the ability to captivate an audience through its informative or entertainment qualities.

Question 5.
Kipling's six men should be assigned equal value when writing a news article because according to Conley and Lamble (2006), "The five Ws and the Hs can appear in multiple combinations and in a
different order of importance in any particular story" (p.83). Thus, all men should be assigned equal value, however some may have their values presented before others in a news article. For example, What Who and When should be written before Why and How.


Journalism Issue.
An issue of journalism that caught my attention throughout this chapter regarded reporting stories that are unusual.
Conley and Lamble(2006), state that the unusual is something that is out of the ordinary. They also insist that when writing stories about the unusual, you must ensure accurate detail, as the unusual can stretch credibility.
Conley and Lamble (2006) also suggest that readers have the right to question if the information they are being presented with is true and I fully understand this, as there are many gossip magazines today which write stories that end up being proven false.
In order to lower the chances of readers questioning the reliability of you unusual stories, the authors of this book suggest that you include authoritative sources or credible witnesses (2006).
Personally, I believe this is a good idea as when I am reading a story in a newspaper, if a witness or authoritative person such as a police officer or doctor is quoted, I tend to have more trust in the information that is being presented.
On the other hand however, in magazines, the authors tend to quote a 'friend' of the subject. Although this follows the guidelines discussed by Conley and Lamble(2006), it does not enhance credibility for me as the author may have easily made the quote up or, the 'friend,' may be giving false information.
I don't know whether I am naieve in trusting quotes from authoritative figues, or I am honestly entrusting the right people. What do you think?

References: Conley, D., & Lamble, S. (2006). A 'know' for the news. In Conley, D., & Lamble, S. (Eds.), The Daily Miracle: An introduction to journalism. (3rd ed).(pp.77-103). Victoria: Oxford University Press.