We've added design and graphic display to the END of the editorial process in recent decades but the initial step is still dependent on chance. Firefighters can be excused for ignoring all the houses that are not burning. Planning is for tomorrow, designing news is for the decade. News should be what we in the newsroom believe is important, not what police, politicians, demonstrators, or public relations people or spin doctors think is important. We could learn from sociologists, archeologist, anthropologists and even physicists.
Journalists look for exceptions.
Exceptions are a false criteria if you are trying to explain the span of the human condition. We moved over to the history of painters. Now we are considering scientists. Go as far away from photojournalism as possible to get new insights. Convert what you hear into journalism principles.