Google launched a new version of the news box within the web search results the other week named In The News. The major difference here is that it sources not just approved Google News publishers but any site it finds relevant, which is really upsetting to publishers.
That being said, if you search for any newsy, generic, keyword phrase, such as [ebola] - 99% of the time, you will get sources from approved Google News publishers. It is the more obscure searches that bring up non-Google News sources, generally.
So I asked Stacie in the Google Hangout on Google+ if Google gives priority to Google News Publishers in the "In The News" box and she basically implied no. She said it was hard to define "priority" but they try to surface the most relevant information in that section, be it from a Google News Publisher or non-publisher.
She answered this question 32 minutes and 39 seconds in, I think you should watch how she answers it:
Forum discussion at Google+.
