In an ideal world, any story with certain elements would find its place to emerge and be told, but if we drop into reality, for it to be of interest to the press, a story needs to be constructed according to newsworthiness criteria, the identity of the news outlet publishing it, the style of the journalist writing it, and the media context in which it fits.
This does not mean that some stories are less relevant or worthy than others, but that the way they are told determines their ability to capture the attention of the media and thus the public.
In other words, the news is not just what happens, but it is the "how" it is told.
One of the ways in which a news story is constructed, for example, is not by following the chronology of events, but by the technique of the inverted pyramid, which precisely reverses the traditional narrative approach that follows a timeline. While we tend to tell stories in a chronological manner, for example starting from the beginning to the end, journalism often adopts a completely different structure.
In the inverted pyramid model, the story begins with the most relevant and significant information, the information that immediately grabs the reader's attention and answers fundamental questions such as: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
This information is presented first, giving the reader an immediate overview of the news story. Then, as the story progresses, additional supporting details are added, but never overloading the reader with irrelevant information.
Newsworthiness criteria
Instead, what are the criteria by which one news item is considered more newsworthy than others?
Let's take a step back in history and to partly answer this question, meet Johan Galtung and Mari Holmboe Ruge, two scholars who in their 1965 research ("The Structure of Foreign News: The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers."), have developed one of the most influential models on the newsworthiness, and they identified 12 criteria that explain why some stories are selected and others are not:
- Frequency - News that develops quickly and falls within the media's production time is more likely to be reported.
- Breadth - Larger events or those with greater impact are more likely to be newsworthy.
- Non-ambiguity - The clearer and more easily understood an event is, the more newsworthy it is.
- Cultural significance - News concerning the culture and values of the target audience is more relevant.
- Consonance - If an event confirms the expectations of the public or journalists, it is more likely to be published.
- Unpredictability - Rare or surprising events are more likely to be reported.
- Continuity - If a news story is already in the media, it is more likely to be followed and developed further.
- Composition - The media seek a balance in content (e.g., a mix of serious and light news).
- Reference to national elites - Events involving influential people or national institutions are more newsworthy.
- Reference to international elites - Events involving powerful leaders or nations get more coverage.
- Reference to ordinary people - Stories about individuals, rather than abstract phenomena, attract more attention.
- Negativity - Negative news (conflicts, tragedies, crises) tend to receive more coverage than positive news.
However, Galtung himself, years later, emphasized that his work was a critique and not a manual: the excessive focus on sensationalism and drama risks providing distorted information, creating confusion in people.
In fact, research by Statista confirms this thinking: 37.6% of Italians struggle to distinguish real facts from online fake news.
This brings us to a thought: every story deserves to be told, but for it to express its full potential it must be constructed in such a way as to be attractive to the media. At the same time, however, in order to win people's trust, it must be conveyed in an objective and least sensationalistic way possible, remaining anchored in the values of truthfulness.
The challenge, then, is to find the right balance between authenticity and narrative construction.
Journalism and PR share this mission: to shape information so that it is not only read, but more importantly understood and remembered.
If our approach-which we share through all our channels-the results we achieve, our way of working, and the values that guide us resonate with your brand and the people who work in your organization, contact us.
We work alongside companies to build authentic and lasting media relationships through structured and targeted PR strategies. We can share dozens of case studies to show you concretely the impact of our work.
You can write to us at [email protected]
Or you can fill out our contact form by clicking on this button.
