Breaking news is urgent and developing, often involving significant events such as natural disasters, major accidents, political incidents or significant social issues. It requires reporters to gather information quickly and accurately, sometimes relying on eyewitness accounts or official statements. Due to its urgency, breaking news is typically reported in real time and updated constantly as new information becomes available. It often interrupts regular programming and may be presented with a distinctive alert graphic or scroll on lower thirds.
In the age of 24-hour news channels, interrupting regular programming is commonplace. However, before this era, breaking news only interrupted scheduled programs for significant events such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy or a severe weather event, such as a tornado warning.
When reporting on a breaking story, it is important to always verify information from sources and not make assumptions. Private citizens can get the luxury of speculating about events, but reporters have a responsibility to report only what they know to be true and correct. In addition, journalists should never reveal the names of injured or deceased people until their families have been notified and informed about those names. Often, in the rush to be first, media outlets will report information they’ve received from other sources, such as an eyewitness at a shooting, that turns out to be incorrect. In the case of Giffords, NPR based its erroneous initial reports on a witness’s account that a member of Congress was slumped in a corner with an apparent gunshot wound to the head and bleeding from her face.