Can news have legs?

[Phoo]

"The news has legs."

What does "legs" mean in this case?

[Mister Micawber]

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Without further context, I suppose it means that news travels.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Jamie (K)]

The expression that some particular news has legs means that it is interesting enough, and true enough, that people will care about it, and the news media will continue to report it in more detail.

If you hear a journalist say, "That story has no legs," it means that it's not something the public cares enough to read more about, or that there's not enough truth or documentation to allow further reporting on it. It means the story will disappear from the news soon.

[Mister Micawber]

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Thanks, Jamie-- a new one for me.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Phoo]

This expression was said by one of newscasters when he
was talking about McCain's scandal that he had an inappropriate relationship with a female lobbyist few years ago.
The New York Times wrote it.
The caster said, if McCain could not explain clearly at the press conference, then "the news has legs".

Now I've got the meaning! Thanks!
But is this expression common
or some sort of slang?
Since it was used in news, I just wonder.

[Torsten]

I think the expression is "the story has legs" rather than "the news has legs".
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Phoo]

Ups, I listened to the video again to make sure and it said
"the thing has legs" instead of "the news ...."

But I also find the definition of the expression in Longman and it says:

"have legs American English informal if a piece of news has legs, people continue to be interested in it and talk about it"

So "thing" "story" "news" etc...
any similar words can be the noun for this expression, can't they?

[Alan]

Hi Phoo,

'Has legs' in a journalistic sense simply means 'will run'.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story A spring in your step

[Phoo]

Hi Alan,

Are you saying only journalists use the term?