Weekly response (Week 6)

1. Based on what you’ve watched in your newscasts this quarter, what sorts of stories comprise the start of a newscast? Identify three or four types of stories that do so. Why do you suppose this is?
1. Shootings
2. Any kind of killing/deadly situations
3. Anything that threatens people
4. Random stories that one way or another interest/have something to do with people.
Nothing odd about it - I think it's natural to make news of something that can affect or concern people because they're the reason news even exist. We don't necessarily need to like the news, we just want to be aware of what's going on. We also want to feel safe and to feel safe we need to know any possible catastrophe that could happen so we would be ready for it. If it has already happened, it's easier to learn something from the story.

2. The newsworthiness traits: Based on your analysis (go back and look them over again; don’t just go on a gut), which trait most often determines the newsworthiness of a story for your news source? Which one does so least? Why do you think this is? Give examples to support your answer. (100 words)
I think that the trait that most often determines the newsworthiness of a story for my news source is, as I said in the previous question, how significant it will be for people. For example, there have been 2 shootings in this month (seriously? no, seriously?!) and both of them were the one I thought was the most important among other news. The trait that determines the newsworthiness of the story in my opinion is probably promixity, even though it may seem like an important part, if the news are really good/interesting/important nobody will care where it happened. For example, does Connecticut really makes the shooting less or more important? Wouldn't you care just as much if it happened in Iowa or Wyoming? I think you still would.

3. What do you suppose it takes to be a nightly news anchor in this market? What traits make a person successful at it? Why do you say that? (75 words)
You should be very energetic. Because people watch night news usually lying on the couch and half-asleep, so you have to be engaging, have to make them so interested they would prefer watching news to sleeping. I say that based on my personal experience of watching TV late at night when you really don't want to do that but somehow still do. I never really looked for any special traits in night anchors but I think the energetic ones are so much more memorable.

4. Finally, what have you learned about local nightly news casts in general? (50 words)
Our local nightly news casts are all hard workers. They have to do a lot of work that usual news reporters don't have to: making people really want to watch the news and not just taking their wish for granted, working in extreme conditions (it's night after all). I will continue to watch them even when I don't have such assignments anymore.