¶ … audience: some audiences might find the latest piece of gossip about Kim Kardashian to be newsworthy and compelling, while others might be interested in something Donald Trump said, while still others might find a story about Aleppo in Syria compelling. For me, a compelling news story is something that touches on one of the major issues of our time and helps to shed more light on it -- because, after all, the major issues of our time (financial collapse, runaway debt, endless wars, government overreach) are complex and need elucidating. Considering the concepts of timeliness, proximity, unusualness, prominence, impact, conflict and human interest, I find Donald Trump's ascendency from TV reality show star to Republican primary leader in the polls to be a compelling news story: it is timely (Trump has appeared at a time when America's debt has increased exponentially, its leaders have lost ground in the Middle East, its cartels are still bleeding the average person dry, and its politicians have been outed as Wall Street cronies); it is proximate -- Trump is everywhere, traveling to every state as he stumps for the Republican nod; it is unusual...

There is conflict -- many in the so-called Establishment hate Trump and want him to lose (which only seems to boost his popularity among the average citizens), and there is human interest -- Trump wants to benefit the little guy; he says that he is looking out for people like me and you. Thus, this story exemplifies all of these concepts.
B) As is noted in "The Changing Nature of News," these concepts have been challenged by the advent of immediacy in news release in the sense that now there is not only 24-hour news, but new "news" stories being flung at the public non-stop, one after another on various media outlets all over the Internet. Whether it is social media or alternative media, there is information-overload happening, so that a news story stays relevant for no more than a day, if that.…