ABSTRACT
Television has had a major role in making many of the population environmentally aware. Newspapers give greater scope for more detailed comment and analysis of what are often complex and technical issues. News is new, fact based, a means of social education, of interest to society, therefore, applicable to people's lives. The theories of news appear within many different academic contexts e.g. social construction of reality, hegemonic reality, audience interpretation and information change. News values which govern the information gathering and story construction procedures are inherent in the news process. McQuail, discusses news values within the context of the information industries. He believes that it is necessary to have realistic criteria to work to. News uses cultural maps to help the audience understand “the unusual, unexpected and unpredicted events which form the basic content of what is newsworthy”. The role of the media library is a vital part of the journalist's information strand.
