None of the news media under investigation can resort to formal documents outlining a definition of what news is and what it is not, nor do they have any rules stating how this is to be determined. A number of the journalists interviewed state that, in selecting news items, they mainly go by their own judgment of what has news value, while others admit that their choice strongly depends on the items available on any given day. Whether an event is newsworthy is influenced by its impact and its vicinity to the newspaper’s readers, the number of people involved and the degree to which the event departs from the ordinary. Furthermore, the choice of what goes into the bulletin or the newspaper is also a matter of trends: a large number of journalists feel that the extent to which an item may appeal to the public determines its news value. The readers, listeners or viewers need to appreciate the importance of a given event, for example because the users of the news medium can identify with it. Clearly, even though the selection of newsworthy items is usually made on an ad hoc basis instead of guided by formal rules, it is always made from a coherent and rational journalistic viewpoint and helped by an ongoing discussion among colleagues. In the absence of formal rules underlying the selection of news, the meetings and discussions held by the editorial staff can be considered informal procedures for making the selection.
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