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WHAT IS BREAKING NEWS?

L

LITTLEBOYBLUE

Was noticing that, as the bulletin for Donna Summer passing came down the wire from All Access, that they seem to consider "A PROMO DIRECTOR IN WICHITA LOST HER COFFEE CUP" as a call for "Special Bulletin" email blast. Made me wonder if we have "diluted" the concept of "bulletin" and "breaking news" just to jack up the theatrics of being able to jump on a "new" story that hasn't been part of the 10-miniute newswheel for the last 6 hours? Think about how often TV jumps in with breaking news sounder ... only to reveal it's because of a non-injury car/bike accident during a commute window, etc.

What do YOU consider a story worthy of the fanfare?

From where I sit ... it's whether or not it's going to be mainstream "water cooler" talk. Joan Rivers rolls snake eyes would probably be "breaking news" (as much as I hate to give her ANY publicity) but new job numbers released 5 minutes ago probably not...even though the IMPACT of those stories inversely proportional.
 
Amber Alerts.
Bomb Threats [or bombs].
Shootings that leave more than a couple people in critical condition [right NOW].
Passings of celebrities.

-crainbebo
 
@crainbebo--

Agreed with all except the first and fourth. Those can be covered on the regular 1700 or 2300 "news" broadcasts along with everything else. Especially the fourth, unless it's someone of immediate major importance, like the President or the Governor. Is telling me that the 1940s teenage matinee idol John Quincy Funnyname died of complications from a severe injury to his big toe really worth breaking into and interrupting "Price is Right"? Certainly not. On the other hand, if Messrs. Obama and Biden were found dead of, say, carbon monoxide poisoning from a malfunctioning heating furnace at the Capitol building, I'd want to know about it since it could potentially affect the welfare and stability of our country.

Also, as Northwesterners surely we must agree that an earthquake would certainly qualify as "breaking news" (ugh, can't believe I just used that phrase), do we not? Especially considering the fact that on this side of the Cascades we have the only active volcano in the lower 48!
 
Not to be another old fart with an old fart comment but real actual breaking news used to be 10 bells on the AP/UPI machine.
If you were on the board by yourself and no news director at hand and you heard that noise it scared the crap out of you. "Breaking News" in todays so-called journalistic media is usually some broadcast outlet trying to bust the nutt ahead of the others on some stupid item like a rock star overdosing or some dumbass politician caught with his weenie in the wrong place. Breaking news is a dead duck because it usually has nothing to do with real news except beating the competition on somthing they think is really interesting but no one actually cares about. Breaking news is an ancient newspaper marketing gadget that existed when the term "Extra Extra" was a bragging right between print media..In todays media, news is gathered from sources like gawker, TMZ, The Colbert Report and others that have juicy stupid stuff that seem to attract those that want to be informed by such vial crap... What brought it on? The News Magazine format that was introduced in the late 70's.. Actually brought in by 60 minutes before that. It made news and news makers a comic book for those with limited attention spans..
 
LBB, this is a pet-peeve of mine.

Some use the "Breaking News" moniker excessively, there is no doubt.

Some local stations use the moniker with any "new" story, no matter how important. Just plain wrong.

Some cable nets use the moniker to increase the perception of what they are doing is extremely important. Can we say HLN?

Fox uses something called "Fox News Alert", which I kind of like, as it is apparently just below the level of "Breaking News".

Bottom line, it is like the boy who cried wolf. Use the term when it needs to be used. Otherwise, media outlets are diluting its effect. For those who continue to use it for mundane stories, it will backfire.
 
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