Breaking news
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (June 2019) |
Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term for continuing coverage of events of broad interest to viewers, attracting accusations of sensationalism.[1][2]
Formats
Breaking news has been common to U.S.
Television
When a news event warrants an interruption of current non-news programming (or, in some cases, regularly scheduled newscasts), the broadcaster will usually alert all of its affiliates, telling them to stand by for the interruption. The network's feed will then switch to a countdown sequence, to allow any
Breaking news reports are often incomplete because reporters have only a basic awareness of the story. For example, major U.S. broadcast networks analyzed the search warrant affidavit related to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago in real time, while on the air, breaking into programming immediately after the document was released.[5] The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) maintains a list of guidelines for broadcasters reporting breaking news.[6]
Talking heads
Breaking news reports often face the same problems in reporting: no footage of the incident, no reporters at the scene, and little available information. To be able to report on current affairs despite this, many networks either employ full-time (typical in the United States) or contact freelance (typical in the United Kingdom) experts and pundits to be "talking heads". These people have either experience or expertise and are considered reliable by the general public. They have been common on television, and can also appear on radio.[7]
In the United States, the competitive nature of commercial networks has allowed for pundits to develop their skills and dedicate themselves to respond to breaking news with analysis in a variety of fields, most often political. These talking heads can be paid millions to work exclusively for a network. In the United Kingdom, TV talking heads are sometimes considered filler who talk around the subject. They are not full-time employees of networks and are not always paid – when they are it is a flat fee for the slot – and will be urgently called in to discuss the relevant field (in which they will typically work full-time). Pundits in the UK have said that they do it because they deem it important to get expert coverage of breaking news, and because it can put their field (and themselves) in the spotlight. Research has suggested that talking heads in the United States are more likely to be partial than talking heads in the United Kingdom.[7]
In 2015, the Financial Times suggested that with modern technological developments broadening news coverage, and with networks opting to show "livelier" non-expert comments from social media more, the need for talking heads may be shrinking.[7]
Radio
National news that is broadcast over a radio network requires constant monitoring by station employees to allow the network coverage to air, although many stations will take a signal sent by the network and break into programming immediately. In the United Kingdom, Independent Radio News provides special alarm systems specifically to notify its affiliates of deaths in the British royal family, mandating their participation in heavily-coordinated mourning protocols that are practiced by the government and broadcasters.[8][9][10]
Mobile phones
Usage
News bulletins have been a fixture of radio broadcasting since the 1920s. Examples of early news bulletins in the
Before 24-hour news networks existed, programming interruptions were restricted to extremely urgent news, such as for the
Another type of breaking news is for
Not all viewers agree that stories labeled as "breaking news" are urgent or important. CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht wrote upon assuming the position in 2022, "It has become such a fixture on every channel and network that its impact has become lost on the audience." To address this, he began limiting CNN's use of the term only to stories of utmost importance.[19]
Criticism
In early coverage of a breaking story, details are often inaccurate or incomplete. For example, during the Sago Mine disaster, there were initial reports that 12 of the 13 miners were found alive, but news organizations later learned that only one actually survived.[20]
Some commentators question as to whether the use of the term "breaking news" is excessive, citing occasions when the term is used even though scheduled programming is not interrupted. For example, an evening broadcast may begin with "Breaking news as we come on the air" to cover a story that has been covered by other broadcasts repetitively within the last 24 hours.[21]
In June 2013, Fox affiliate WDRB in Louisville, Kentucky gained notice in the television industry for a promo that criticized the broad and constant use of the "breaking news" term, explaining that it has been overused as a "marketing ploy" by other news-producing stations, who tend to apply the term to stories that are low in urgency or relevance. To coincide with the promo, on its website, WDRB posted "Contracts" with its viewers and advertisers, with the former list promising to use "breaking news" judiciously (applying it to stories that are "both 'breaking' and 'news'").[22]
In June 2022, CNN chief
See also
References
- ^ Christopher Merrill (January 20, 2014). "Always Free Online". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- ^ "Definition of Breaking News – Journalism Terms". Journalism.about.com. December 20, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Breaking News of the 1930s | American Experience". PBS. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
- ^ Hill, Michael P. (February 22, 2022). "CBS News breaks in new special report look and sound". NewscastStudio. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ Hill, Michael P. (26 August 2022). "Networks go 'quick and dirty' to show document after release of Trump affidavit". NewscastStudio. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ "Covering Breaking News". Radio Television Digital News Association. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c Mance, Henry (2015-11-20). "TV's talking heads: who are they and why do we need them?". Financial Times. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
- ^ Gogarty, Conor (7 July 2018). "Operation London Bridge: This is what will happen when the Queen dies". Gloucestershire Live. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen's death". the Guardian. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- ^ "Prince Philip has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace announces". BBC News. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ Lu, Kristine; Matsa, Katerina Eva. "More than half of smartphone users get news alerts, but few get them often". Pew Research Center. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ Spayd, Liz (August 25, 2016). "Why'd You Do That? How The Times Decides to Send News Alerts". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ Jensen, Elizabeth (May 18, 2018). "You Call That Breaking News?". NPR. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ Brown, Pete (November 29, 2017). "US newsrooms use mobile alerts to define their brand". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ Stan Chambers (April 8, 1989). "The Kathy Fiscus Story: Turning Point in TV News". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
- ^ "Los Angeles Television News Pioneer Stan Chambers Dies at 91". ABC News. February 14, 2015. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015.
- ^ "Press Coverage the Kennedy Assassination". PBS. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
- .
- ^ Fischer, Sara (2022-06-02). "CNN cutting back on over-hyping everything as "breaking news"". Axios. Axios Media Inc. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
- ^ Davis, Matthew (January 5, 2006). "US mining safety under scrutiny". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
- ^ "When Is Breaking News… Not?". InsideTheCBC.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08.
- TVSpy. June 4, 2013. Archived from the originalon June 8, 2013.
- ^ Johnson, Ted (2022-06-02). "New CNN Boss Chris Licht Wants To Cut Back On Use Of "Breaking News" Chyron, Announces Creation Of "Guns In America" Beat". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-06-03.