1.What is the purpose of a news company that focuses purely on newsworthiness?
The purpose of a news company that focuses purely on newsworthiness is likely to churn out a profit. Stories are greenlit not to report equally and truthfully on ongoing events, but in order to attract attention and sell papers.
2. How does audience determine newsworthiness?
The audience has different things which they consider relevant and worthy of their attention. In the modern world, everyone is short on time, thus news stories should be attention-grabbing. The relevance to the audience, scale, recentness and intrigue all affect how likely someone is to consider reading a news story.
3. Does this function support democracy?
The function doesn't support democracy, as information shared is often specifically curated, adjusted or withheld, in order to ensure that the articles that people see are the most newsworthy ones. Knowledge is attained from a tinted lens, impacting the audience's ability to make decisions.
Reflection
Market interests and the need for profit actively go against freedom of speech and free and correct information. The search for money leads many firms to be influenced by other agendas, which put a chokehold on journalism, changing how it media is worded and what information is released and what isn't. Newsworthiness as an idea conflicts with the availability and access to perfect information. The audience considers what is and what isn't "newsworthy" and presses curate their releases based on the taste of the audience.