Breaking News Best Practices
Embedded Files
Why Breaking News Is Important At Patch
It aligns with our editorial mission.
It is necessary information our communities are looking for (when there’s a breaking story in your Patch community, you’ll notice a surge in traffic to the Patch page. Our readers are depending on finding that information on Patch when they land there.)
It drives traffic and brings in new readers and newsletter subscribers.
Since Patch’s mission is to be the one-stop-shop for everything local, it is a huge disappointment to our readers when they don’t find the information they are looking for on Patch.
When To Watch For Breaking News
You see a surge in search traffic to one of your Patches. This means readers are going there to find some kind of information. Call your local PIOs/other sources. Search on Twitter or Google for your town name to see if you can find any information leading you to the potential story.
You receive an alert or a Flash alert from Dataminr. The content of the alerts may not be accurate or the information may be incomplete, but it’s almost always an indication something is happening. Again, call your local sources/PIOs. Check social media pages (i.e. police, sheriff, fire etc.) to see if anything has been posted or shared on the incident. Always verify before you post.
Reader tips posted on neighbor posts or your Patch Facebook pages. Again, verify.
A reader emails you directly.
NewsWhip or CrowdTangle email alerts.
Twitter lists.
The Breaking News Process
1. Responding
Good communication is the first step to ensuring the success of a breaking news story.
Communicate within your team: If you see a breaking news story in your Patch, notify your team that you’re on it. If you’re busy, please say so — this way a member of your team can pick up the story for you.
Communicate with national: Is everyone on your team busy? Don’t hesitate to reach out to the national desk (Megan VerHelst, Beth Dalbey, Tim Moran) for help. They’re more than happy to help with breaking news stories.
The national desk monitors bigger breaking news at all times. Sometimes, Megan or another national desk writer will message you on Slack with a potential breaking news tip. Please respond or message them ASAP to let them know whether you are working on it or if you need help.
If you’re not around, that’s OK! Just make sure to communicate that ahead of time so someone else on your team can jump in to pick up a breaking news story.
2. The One-Sentence Breaking News Alert
Vet the tip. Accuracy is more important than speed.
If citing another news outlet, avoid circular sourcing — find the original reporting outlet and make sure they cite their source. If you’re still unsure of validity, wait until the situation becomes more clear or an official source/reputable publication verifies.
Again, if you are busy or need help covering a breaking story, do not hesitate to ask.
Your first draft should NOT be a fully written and fleshed-out story.
Once a breaking news story is verified, write a short, concise sentence or two containing the first piece of information you are able to confirm and who confirmed it.
If a single reputable news outlet is reporting the story, attribute the info to the outlet. Include a link. If it’s multiple outlets, write “according to multiple news outlets” or “according to multiple reports.”
Write an SEO-friendly headline and dek emphasizing what you know. Add a News Alert graphic (available in WebDam) as a placeholder.
Reports of a shooting in town? If you can’t confirm the shooting but are able to confirm a police presence at the location, that is enough for a one-sentence breaking news alert.
Indicate to your readers you will update the story. Use language like “This is a breaking news story. Refresh for updates.”
Send out a BNA as appropriate and share on Facebook.
If the story is of national interest, send the story to the national desk via #pitches or #natdeskchat on Slack.
3. Update, Update, Update
Go back in and update the story by adding new information as it comes in. Readers are relying on QUICK updates and updating is key from an SEO perspective.
If you’re waiting on new information or have all the info you need, go back in and add the background info.
Double-check that your hed, dek and photo cutline are SEO friendly.
Update the hed as the most important details change (not the most recent)
Resend a BNA when appropriate.
4. Write a Final Version for the Next Day
Once the situation has settled down and you’ve received all updates, a final version of your story should be written for someone to read in their morning newsletter. The story should contain a thorough account of what happened.
Assume readers received all breaking news alerts. Add the newest info to the top of the story and update the hed a final time.
See this previous 15-minute training on write-thrus.
Report abuse