News localization

After four years' study on Television and Broadcast Journalism in China, I feel that things are a little different here in JUS from that in China.

The new term which impresses me most is "local news". I'd like to quote the definition of it from the internet:

In journalism, "local news" refers to news coverage of events in a local context which would not normally be of interest to those of other localities, or otherwise be of national or international scope.

I feel that people have more interest in local news. For example, we have news quiz every Monday morning, and most of those news are local news, it's much more useful to read Star then Guardian if you want to prepare better for it. What's more, for other course, the course leader always asks us to do local news, or make national news localize.

However, in China the headlines in newspapers are always national news or global news about policy, war or tragedy. Of course there will be lots of local news in local newspapers, but they usually have short length and are put in inferior space. People want to know what's happening in Beijing more then things around themselves. To them, newspapers sometimes act as teachers who give them knowledge about international policy, national economy, fashion and something else.

When I was in China this summer, I heard very interesting news about Sheffield, it told that a cat climbed up a tree but couldn't get down and people wanted to help it. I was very confused at that time, how could things like that be news? But now I understand little by little that maybe in Britain, the traditional consciousness about news value is that anything what attracts people's interest can be news.

It's still controversial that whether most news should be localized. Some people think it's beneficial for them to know more about the community they're living in, the neighbors they know or want to know, and what's happening around them. But some others believe it's important and meaningful to know more about other people who live in other parts of the earth.

I think it's better to avoid being too extreme and find a balance between them.