gatekeeping 

a term which is applied to the editing and filterig process where decisins are made to let some information "pass through"

news values 

continuity - stories that are already in the news continue to run and are updated 

proximity- stories that are closer to home are more likely t be included

personalization- stories that include human interest- real people 

unambiguous-stories that are easy to understand  and for papers to report on 

Elite persons- stories about important people and powerful nations 

negativity - bad news is more interesting if it bleeds it leads 

unexpectedness- an event that is a shock or out of the ordinary