Bloomington, Indiana citizens and 19 members of the editorial staff of the "Herald-Telephone" were surveyed to determine whether the audience for news had the same notion of news value as those who decide what news will be available on any given day. The respondents were asked to list the events most important to them in 1981, on the local, state, national, or international level, and to choose the single most important event. Residents were also asked to name events that they thought had been underplayed or overplayed by the media during the year. A content analysis of the stories on the front page and on the world page of the "Herald-Telephone" was conducted to determine the actual newsplay of the year's events. The 10 events mentioned most frequently by the newspaper staff were (1) President Reagan being shot, (2) "Reagonomics," (3) the release of the American hostages in Iran, (4) community problems with the chemical PCB, (5) Egyptian President Sadat's assassination, (6) the crisis in Poland, (7) Indiana University winning the national basketball title, (8) the location of a work release center, (9) Ronald Reagan assuming the presidency, and (10) the Pope being shot. Area residents agreed on 8 of the top 10 events of the year, with the basketball championship as the only local story chosen by residents. The assassination attempt on President Reagan was listed most frequently as the most important event. Reports of the Libyan terrorist hit squad planning to attack the President were listed as overplayed, as were the hostage release and the wedding of Britain's Prince Charles. (HTH)