Breaking news is news that’s happening right now, and it could be anything from a plane crash to a shooting. Because breaking news is so fast-moving, there’s always fierce competition to get the story first — but with that also comes a responsibility to report accurately.
Until the rise of 24-hour news networks, it was unusual for a regular programming schedule to be interrupted by breaking news, except in the case of severe weather events. Instead, a network would usually run a lower third alert crawl during regularly scheduled newscasts to let viewers know a breaking news event was occurring and would soon interrupt the regular broadcast.
One of the most important things journalists need to remember when reporting on breaking news is never to speculate. It’s easy to do, especially when it comes to eyewitness accounts of a tragedy like a shooting, but it can be very dangerous. Speculation can lead to mistakes, and as we saw in the NPR erroneous report on Gabrielle Giffords’ shooting, it can even be deadly. It’s also not wise to rely on eyewitness accounts that you haven’t confirmed with authorities. That’s why it’s so important for reporters to double-check all information they receive. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools for journalists at every level to make sure they’re getting the facts right when reporting on breaking news.