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What Constitutes Breaking News?

March 25, 2015 by Kenna Griffin

A Supreme Court decision, a plane crash in the Alps, Saudi Arabia military action in Yemen, and deadly tornadoes in my state.

All of those items seem like pretty big news to me, and I received breaking news alerts today about all of them, some from more than one news source.

But check out this screenshot I took earlier today.

breakign news alert

One of these things is not like the others, USA Today.

Seriously? Zayn Malik leaving One Direction is breaking news alert worthy?

This has been getting on my nerves for a while, but today was just the breaking point—pun intended.

It seems that news agencies need to define what constitutes breaking news, instead of just alerting readers every time anything happens in an attempt to garner hits on their sites.

I subscribe to notifications from my local newspaper’s website, USA Today and the Associated Press. The two national media outlets sent breaking news alerts when the winner of The Westminster Kennel Club’s dog show was announced.

Seriously? You’re sending me an alert about a dog show winner? That is not information I need to know immediately .

So, what do we need to know immediately? Breaking news is an unexpected news event happening now. Typically, breaking news is thought of as something the reader needs to know as it’s occurring. Notice I wrote “needs to know,” not “wants to know?” I’m sure there are a ton of people who care about One Direction, but that’s not information they need to know immediately.

Need to know information, in my mind, is that which deals with a health, safety or welfare issue. The tornadoes I referenced at the beginning of this post certainly constituted need to know information for the people in my state. It made sense to send alerts about them.

By sending an alert about seemingly every news happening they think interests readers, news agencies essentially are crying wolf. I fear that they’re playing up so many non-important things that we’ll just start ignoring the notifications and won’t receive important news when we really need it.

These frequent, irrelevant alerts aren’t a service to the reader. They’re an annoyance.

Sure, we could just unsubscribe to the notifications. I have considered it. But, for the time being, I get more benefit than annoyance from them.

But, for the sake of serving readers, I encourage all news agencies to consider what constitutes breaking news. Have the discussion. When do you send alerts and when do you wait for readers to see your posts elsewhere? Talk it out. Write a policy. Educate the staff about it.

There’s no doubt that sending an alert gets more eyes on your stories immediately. But this may eventually backfire if things don’t change. Then you’ll just be losing readers on another medium.

Let’s Talk Nerdy!

What do you think about breaking news alerts? Do you think news agencies need to reconsider what they alert readers of or do you think news alerts are fine as they are?

 

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above (typically those to books) may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I promise that I only recommend products or services I use personally and think will provide you value. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Comments

  1. StanFinger says

    April 15, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    profkrg not that.

    Reply
  2. thezim69 says

    December 30, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    profkrg This was breaking news. https://t.co/UYpr3ABsmI

    Reply
  3. profkrg says

    December 30, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    thezim69 Do you agree that this was breaking news?

    Reply
  4. thezim69 says

    December 30, 2016 at 8:59 pm

    profkrg His fibula thought so. But to answer: in an ESPN context, yes. Maybe not if it was a CNN or NYT push notification.

    Reply

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Prof KRG

Prof KRG aims to create an ongoing educational dialogue among media professionals, students and educators.

Please let me know what resources you need or topics you wish you better understood. If I don't know the information, I'm happy to seek out someone who does.

Contact me via email at kennagriffin@gmail.com.

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About Kenna Griffin

I am a mass communications professor, journalist and collegiate media adviser. I teach classes including those on writing, reporting, media law, media ethics, social media marketing, and public relations. I am married, have two children and live in Oklahoma. More about this site's purpose

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