List three criteria journalists use to determine newsworthiness.

• A. Timeliness, impact, and proximity
• B. Colorful language, length, and punctuation
• C. Popularity on social media
• D. Weather conditions

Answer: (A)

Newsworthiness is about what makes a story worth reporting to the audience. The strongest set of criteria includes timeliness, impact, and proximity. Timeliness means the story is fresh or developing now, so people want up-to-date information. Impact looks at how many people are affected or how significant the consequences are; the greater the potential effect, the more news value it has. Proximity concerns relevance to the audience’s location or community—local events often matter more to readers than distant ones. The option that lists these three factors is the best choice because it reflects the classic newsroom standard for deciding what to cover. The other options miss these key measures: choosing stories based on flashy language, length, or punctuation isn’t about news value; popularity on social media can influence attention but doesn’t determine whether something is newsworthy in itself; weather conditions alone aren’t a criterion for newsworthiness.