Final answer:
The category of newsworthiness that justifies an article about a fox stealing shoes is 'novelty' due to its unusual and quirky nature. This type of story captures interest because it deviates from the norm, making it captivating and interesting to a broad audience. The correct option is C.
Step-by-step explanation:
The article about a fox stealing hundreds of shoes from the residents of a town in Germany falls into the category of novelty newsworthiness. The reason for this is that the event is unusual, quirky, and out of the ordinary. When a news story is so different from the normal state of affairs, it captures interest because of its uniqueness. In media terms, 'man bites dog' stories such as this one attract attention because they’re unexpected and not something you hear about every day.
When analyzing the newsworthiness of a story, the category of novelty often overlaps with other categories like impact or even proximity depending on the context. However, in this case, since the story does not involve any prominent figures, does not have immediate time-sensitivity, is unlikely to have a significant impact on a vast audience, and does not necessarily relate to the local vicinity of the readers if it's a widely distributed paper, the primary justification for publication is its novel nature.
Although the event occurred in Germany, unless the reader is from there, proximity wouldn't be the main reason the story was interesting. The impact of the story is more at the individual level than a societal one, and there's no proper immediacy that requires the story to be heard right away. What makes it stand out is its unique, peculiar nature—a fox engaging in behavior more commonly attributed to humans, thus sparking curiosity and interest.