Behind the Headlines How BreakingNews Is Selecting News Stories

Every day, newsrooms are faced with a similar basic problem. The news that they could cover may take on many forms, but there will only be limited space, limited airtime, and a limited amount of online space. Deciding which events will become BreakingNews notifications and what events will lose their potential to be important events; demonstrates the complicated machinery that lies behind the current practice of journalism.

In many cases, editorial meetings will begin early, with assignment editors looking at wire services, police scanners, and social media handles to determine if any stories are emerging. The assignment editors are gatekeepers of sorts, and part of that job is to quickly assess the newsworthiness of a developing story. However, since the introduction of the digital age, the course of evaluation has dramatically changed. In addition to classic news value factors like proximity, prominence, and human interest, audience engagement metrics are now an important part of the evaluation process. 

In fact, the introduction of real-time analytics has changed how newsrooms develop story-planning decisions in a way that many readers do not fully understand. All types of digital editors look at which stories get clicks, shares, and comments and feed this into making plans for the next stories covered in the future. A story about local government corruption may actually be more important in the long run than celebrity gossip, but if readers do not want to engage with coverage of cities, news media will be more inclined to prioritize what media is getting ignored. 

BreakingNews decisions must be made in the heat of the moment; this often leads to decisions where all credibility is at stake. Editors must balance speed, accuracy, and often work off incomplete information while competitors rush to publish a duplicated/competing item. This pressure is only heightened during large events that occur across various time zones requiring 24-hour coverage from a small group of people.

Geographic position matters with respect to the decision of news stories, even though the world's connectivity is beginning to erode historic geography. An explosion at a factory in Ohio will probably be treated differently by Cleveland papers than the international press as a collective, yet social media has the ability to elevate local stories that have gone viral to a national stage in a matter of hours. Hashtags and viral videos can muddy editorial hands by elevating quality and actual news stories, to priority based on general public interest.

The allocation of available resources has a dramatic influence in deciding which stories receive the detail in-depth investigation vs the surface coverage of fly-on-the-wall news. A complicated investigative story exploring stock fraud or ecological obliteration can take many months of research as well as costs of considerable expenditure. Additionally, breaking news situations require instant response meaning you often lose sight of other slower-moving projects. The oscillation between depth and quick response informs our news world in significant dimensions.

Audience makeup is a major factor in what stories are chosen, especially in traditional publications that target a community or age group. A technology magazine will prioritize different stories than a community newspaper that serves rural communities. And advertisers have their impact too as publications must keep the money coming in to support their journalism.

Who is available also can make or break coverage. Journalists necessarily rely upon officials, experts, and witnesses (and anyone else) willing to comment on the record. Reporting about sensitive subjects or high-ranking officials is likely to be coy about finding people to speak with, thus coverage is held hostage despite a public appetite for the subject. Additional legal dimensions will be a consideration since newsrooms must be wary of lawsuits but balance the public good.

The BreakingNews environment has created a freshness of new demands for immediate publishing that never existed in a print-only world. The internet has the ability to be updated and corrected at any time, but it also demands speed rather than finesse. Understanding these forces behind the scenes allows readers to put into perspective the news they read and what human judgment decisions underlies daily coverage.