What does news value mean to a Maltese journalist?

Abstract

The intention of this study is to shed some light on the multiple views that Maltese journalists working in the different (Zelizer, 2004) news mediums today being radio, television, print and online, have on the issue of news value and which factors they choose to include. Galtung & Ruge, (1965) provide the original list of news value, which was later updated by other theorists, which are covered. By using qualitative research methods, eight local editors and journalists from print and broadcast media were interviewed using in depth interviews with open ended questions to help study the main hypothesis which is, 'how does a Maltese journalist tackle news value, do they follow a specific list of news values or do they use their personal experience? Results show that Maltese journalists do follow criteria by Galtung and Ruge (1965) but through experience and the advancements related to journalism the journalists add their own criteria. This proves the hypothesis is correct, and that even though the list has been updated many times, journalists still follow the original set out by Galtung and Ruge in 1965 and add their own criteria related to experience, the news organisation they work for and technological advancements.