Similarities and Differences between Local Stories and National Stories

Because I will be creating a local radio station, I wanted to see if if local news was presented in the same way as national news.

National newspaper: The Telegraph

Local newspaper: Ham & High

I found the following similarities:

- Both national and local news includes the 5 W's at the beginning
- Both contain a range of news values
- Frequently both national and local news stories include quotes from experts, commentators or members of the public (often towards the end of the story)

I found the following differences:

- The news values that drive the story are often different. Local news stories tend to be dominated by familiarity whilst impact, elite people, and amplitude are more commonly found in national news.
- The stories that appear on national news often seem bigger, whereas many of the stories in local news seem small and less significant.
- If the same type of story appears in both local and national news there is often a completely different slant on the story - local stories will focus on how it effects the community.