Unlike regular news reporting that often allows for extensive research and fact-checking, breaking news prioritizes immediacy and urgency. This often leads to ongoing updates that may occur throughout the event’s coverage, especially when it involves events that could potentially impact the public or require immediate action such as natural disasters, accidents, and significant political or social issues.
When a breaking news story is reported, broadcasters typically interrupt their non-news programming with a short break in the program and a graphic that alerts viewers to the change. In some cases, they may also use a “News Alert” ticker to keep audiences apprised of the developing story during regular programming.
Before 24-hour news networks, breaking news was only interrupted on a major national or international scale when an important development was expected to happen quickly and could affect large populations, such as a hurricane warning or the assassination of a world leader. Since the rise of cable and satellite television, breaking news is commonly interrupted to provide live coverage of a developing story such as a shooting, explosion, fire, or earthquake.
It is imperative that journalists are mindful of the ethical concerns associated with breaking news when covering these types of events, such as the possibility that they may report information that has not been confirmed or that may cause unnecessary alarm in the audience. Journalists should take precautions to ensure that they do not publish the names of those who have been injured or killed unless their families have been notified and informed of the details.