Galtung and Ruge

Galtung and Ruge were two Norwegian media analysts who, over 40 years ago, created a list of the 12 features news story's may contain that makes them newsworthy. This included:

1-Frequency= Has it just happened?

2-Threshold= Is it a big enough event?

3-Unambiguity= Is it easy enough to understand without too much complicated backstory?

4-Meaningfulness= Is it relevant to our culture and/or our country?

5-Consonance= What might we expect to happen, given previous events?

6-Unexpectedness= Is it rare or surprising?

7-Continuity= Is it already in the news, and therefore easier to cover?

8-Composition= Does it provide balance or contrast between other stories?

9-Elite Nations= Is it about powerful nations that might have an impact on us?

10-Elite People= Does it involve famous/powerful people?

11-Personalisation= Is it relatable to the readership?

12-Negativity= Is it bad news and therefore more likely to sell papers?

However, there was an issue with the way Galtung and Ruge devised the 12 factors. They only looked at the major headlining stories; this meant that stories relating to entertainment, positivity, elite organisations, and promotions/campaigns were not included. In later years, a newly updated list was devised. This list of 10 features is what we now use to analyse articles.

1-Power Elite

2-Celebrities

3-Entertainment

4-Suprise

5-Bad News

6-Good News

7-Magnetude

8-Relevance

9-Follows ups

10-Newspaper Agenda