The traditional open newsroom is called a bullpen. Everyone talks and listens to everyone else. That's what you'll be doing here in these discussions -- learning from each other. So, let's get started!

Hollywood's celebrities. They seem to be everywhere in the news these days. Celebrity dating, celebrity dancing, celebrity brawling, celebrity babies, celebrity divorcing, celebrity "reality" TV.With a controversial president in the White House, economies sputtering across Europe, refugees flooding the Continent, American troops still dying on foreign soil, and so many other pressing issues on the world stage, how can celebrity shenanigans benews?

Well, there must be a reason why every media outlet--including the serious ones likeThe New York TimesandThe Wall Street Journal--are covering this stuff. Sure, with the exception of something like Michael Jackson's death they're not always putting it on the front page. But some non-tabloid newspapers do. Broadcast news outlets certainly give it a lot of play. And these stories are Internet news staples.

Tempting as it may be to bash or defend the starlets and other celebrities who have captivated our interest, that's not what we need to talk about here. We need to focus our attention on what makes news "news" to information consumers -- its audience, timeliness, proximity, impact, conflict, prominence, singularity oroddity and emotion. Is the media's coverage of Hollywood celebrities too much, too little, appropriate, etc.? From the journalist's perspective,is this coverage valid?

Before you engage in discussion of these issues, please make sure you understand what professional journalists consider the definition of news by completing the assigned reading in the following material posted in the Course Resources:

• The Characteristics of News
• Chapter 1ofThe News Manual
• Chapter 65in 21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook and
• pages 5-8of the Handbook of Independent Journalism.
• Then,review this video from the Newseum:

Your objective here is to understand this fundamental building block of the basic news story.

Activity:

When you're done with yourreading, you will craft an informed response to this discussion prompt in which you explain what makes one story more newsworthy than another, with examples.

Start by looking at what professional journalists at U.S. newspapers or U.S. broadcast and cable TV outlets have selected as the day's news; you'll find links to major U.S. newspapers in the course webliography.

Compare those headlines to the top news at sites like Yahoo News, Google News or the HuffingtonPost.

Select three news stories and explain why they are news. Why are theynews?

In your reply to this discussion prompt,identify the news characteristicthat was leveraged for the news angle in each story. Was it:

• Timeliness
• Impact
• Proximity
• Singularity or Oddity
• Conflict or Controversy, or
• Prominence?

Identify the elements of newsin each of your three stories by completing this worksheet for each one:

Headline:

Who:

What:

When:

Where:

Why:

How:

URL:

Then, tie this information together by explaining why each story isnews.And if they're news, is the newsmedia's coverage of celebrities too much, too little, appropriate?

Make sure you support your explanation with information from the four assigned readings and the video listed above. Use in-text citations and a reference list in your response.