se297005@ohio.edu
Newsworthiness is absolutely determined by the audience who will be reading or viewing the material. In the debate about whether the sex in elevator story should have been printed it is essential to consider the college realm in which it occured. We only have to look as far as our own campus paper to see that what is newsworthy to us is not what would be newsworthy to our parents or hometown residents.
The heated debate in class Tuesday about the Post article confirming drug use is an example. In a regional newspaper this story is going to get coverage and did. But the follow up, an article about the suspicion and speculation of drug use, is not going to be seen outside OU. For us though, the students who are hearing rumors, this update is relevant and newsworthy.
Being in this atmoshpere also allows for the sophmoric to become newsworthy and I think it's safe to say the Post wouldn't hesitate to run this story on campus. If a couple was caught in a Bromley elevator, people want to know. That is their elevator. Whether the names are needed is another issue. If the newsworthiness is justified by the educational aspect of the consequences of such an act, names have little to do with it.
Suicide is a little stickier. Contributing to a possible cluster suicide case seems like the last thing a media outlet wants to be responsible for but it's hard to separate what is morbid curiosity and what is a demand for newsworthy items. If we leave it out of the news to prevent proliferation, do we leave it out of artistic pieces like this documentary?
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