News is timely. News usually impacts lots of people. News often is proximate to readers of the news publication. A fire on campus is newsworthy. A fire in Wyoming in itself is not.
News often involves conflict.
A student group staging a protest to call attention to landlord neglect of student housing is newsworthy. A group of students agreeing that they think their apartments are well cared for is not. News often involves prominent people. The president of the United States breaking a leg in a skiing accident would be news. A first year student breaking a leg in a skiing accident would probably not be newsworthy.