Key news values influencing the selection of crime stories include:
Immediacy - 'breaking news'
Dramatisation - action and excitement
Personalisation - human interest stories about individuals
Higher-status persons and celebrities
Simplification - eliminating grey areas
Novelty or unexpectedness - a new angle
Risk - victim - centred stories about vulnerability and fear
Violence - especially visible and spectacular acts.
Greer & Reiner - the media decides what to present on news: this guides journalists in what is ‘newsworthy'. News vales create a spectacle to generate interest and encourage the public to consume the media’s products.
