What is News?

People tell me often they don't understand why their cause, company or product doesn't attract news coverage.

I ask them, "Is it newsworthy?" And often, I get a blank stare in response.

So, let's talk about what news is.

My journalism professor defined news as, "Man bites dog."

Others have classified it with C-words: Catastrophe, Crime, Color, and Corruption.

Today's story about the astronaut love triangle explains news. And it may cover all of the C's.

In case you missed it, a female astronaut was arrested for attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. That's a story in itself, because astronauts are "The Right Stuff." They are the best of the best, the ones that jump higher, run faster, pump heavier and act nobler.

But it gets better. The suspect, in love with a second astronaut, and afraid she was losing his affection to yet a third astronaut, apparently wore diapers for 900 miles so she could get to and take down the woman standing in her way.

"It's stranger than fiction," my husband said. He's right--if it were in a novel, we'd dismiss the story as too crazy to make sense.

So the next time you're trying to pitch an idea to the news media, try wearing Pampers. I'm just kidding! But you see what you're up against. Your story has to be fresh, interesting, never-heard-of-before, or yes, stranger than reality.