And the Newsworthiness Award goes to...

What makes something newsworthy?

Is it something that is popular with the climate of the times?

Who determines the worth of news?

Is it you? Me? Mainstream media? Bloggers?

The problem I have with "newsworthiness" is that its subjective. Essentially, whats worthy to me as news may not be worthy to you and vice-versa. Do I care that the Cardinals won the World Series? Not really, but that's HUGE news for sports fans. Did you hear that Mazda isn't actually stopping production on its trademark rotary engine? I'm so excited about this news. I LOVE rotary engines! But I bet to most of you that's not worthy news. Some of you couldn't care less.

Lately, the trend in news has been Libya, U.S. Troops coming back home, Cancer Awareness, snow, and of course Halloween festivities. Some of these are recurring themes (i.e. Libya and U.S. Troops) that have been in the news for years now because they're a matter of public concern and national security thus making them newsworthy. We as normal citizens don't have the capabilities to follow the war first-hand so the media has to cover it so that we can stay informed about what is happening overseas.

Then there are those items of news that are seasonal. We just got the first snowfall of the year; people are talking and the media has picked up on this. In this case, we have made the topic of snowfall/the arrival of winter newsworthy because its a topic that is on everyone's mind. The same goes for cancer awareness and Halloween. They are seasonal trends. That's the topic of conversation right now and that has influenced the news.

What I've found is that there really are two main things that make something newsworthy. Primary, something is considered newsworthy if its informing the public of an issue that might affect them. This includes things like medical breakthroughs, war, protests, construction work, policy changes, etc. Secondly, issues may be considered newsworthy if they are the topic of conversation. These are social matters like holiday related stories, weather, sport victories/failures, etc.

So what the final verdict? Who determines newsworthiness?

As I asked earlier, Is it you? Me? Mainstream media? Bloggers?

Well its everyone. The job of the media is to be a watchdog for our society and so not only should they inform us about things that we otherwise would not know about, but they must also monitor those things that we are talking about and report stories around those topics.

What news are you going to make today? Either way, fasten your seat belt because it's bound to be a wold wild.

Drive safely my friends!