News values of United Methodist Church editors

Twenty-two United Methodist Church (UMC) editors Q-sorted fifty-four news stories in this research study. The concourse was constructed using six news values mainly used by editors and reporters in the commercial news media: conflict, impact, magnitude, prominence, novelty, and proximity. The stories were sorted along an eleven point bi-polar continuum from "most important" to "least important"The study revealed that two kinds of editor perceptions emerged in the UMC: the denominational editors who selected news stories based on the proximity news element, and the ecumenical editor, who selected news stories based on the news elements of magnitude, impact, and novelty.Despite the use of these news values, the study also showed that the environmental factors such as organizational policies of the UMC and the bishops, influenced story selection for publication.