This is super interesting and helpful, but I feel like you could condense this prompt and it would still work just fine:

“A research abstract has high newsworthiness if it is relevant to contemporary issues in society. A research abstract has high newsworthiness if it potentially impacts many people in society in positive or negative ways. A research abstract has high newsworthiness if it has potential for controversy. A research abstract has high newsworthiness if it can be easily understood by a general audience, and this counts two times as much as other newsworthiness criteria. Rate the newsworthiness of the following research abstract by providing a numeric rating on a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 is a low newsworthiness rating and 5 is a high newsworthiness rating: <abstract>”

You could probably just say something like, "An abstract has high newsworthiness if it: is relevant to contemporary issues in society; potentially impacts many people in society; has potential for controversy; can be easily understood by a general audience (this criteria has 2x weight). Rate the newsworthiness...."

Let me know if that reduces/maintains/improves the effectiveness of the responses!