Inside Breaking News

Introducing Breaking Ads - Companies can now break their own...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:10:14 -0400

Introducing Breaking Ads - Companies can now break their own news on Breaking News, thanks to a new sponsored story product called “Breaking Ads.” GE is the launch sponsor, highlighting its stories about technology and innovation directly in our real-time streams spanning our mobile apps and BreakingNews.com.

As companies create their own stories, Breaking Ads is powerful way to reach an influential, on-the-go audience in a timely fashion. While a growing number of sites offer native advertising for entertaining stories and funny photo galleries, Breaking News is a trusted place for companies to quickly post important, mission-critical updates.

Each ad is a news update in itself, optimized for a mobile audience — and in this case, it links back to GE’s stories on GEReports.com. The updates are targeted to appear only when stories of a similar nature appear nearby, and they’re disclosed as advertising to avoid any confusion with Breaking News’ coverage.

We’ve experienced incredible mobile growth over the last year, and the addition of Breaking Ads is part of our mobile-first commitment to offer sponsored experiences that work naturally on devices.

For more about the new product, see Digiday’s story on the launch, and follow @breakingads on Twitter. If you have any questions about Breaking Ads, please drop us a note.

Meanwhile, we’re working on an exciting new release of Breaking News, our biggest product update since we launched over two years ago. Stay tuned!

(Post by Cory Bergman, @corybe on Twitter)

How Breaking News keeps news junkies current in a crisis

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:19:00 -0400

How Breaking News keeps news junkies current in a crisis:

The Verge wrote up a story about how Breaking News works behind the scenes to balance speed and accuracy.

Breaking News looking for a mobile developer

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:08:00 -0400

We’re growing our team, and we’re looking for an experienced iOS application developer, preferably based in Seattle or New York. If you think breaking news is broken, come help us fix it. Millions of people already depend on our unique approach to blending verification with social media, and we’re hard at work taking Breaking News to the next level.

We’re an agile team that works under the umbrella of the NBC News Digital Group, but in a separate startup environment. In many ways, it’s the best of both worlds: the freedom to create disruptive new products with the backing of a large media company.

To learn more about the job, reach out to @magnetbox, drop us a note or search for job number 9843BR on NBCUniCareers.com.

A tough call on a big story

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:56:00 -0400

A day ago, we explained how we balance speed with rumor control at Breaking News. Then we were faced with a tough decision, challenging our convictions on a very big story.

Despite three major news organizations reporting an arrest in the Boston bombings, we waited. As a curation team that’s literally branded “Breaking News,” waiting is agonizing. We watched the tweets stream across the screen, but something just didn’t feel right.

“Lots of noise in the system right now,” explained Tom Brew, who heads Breaking News’ editorial team. Added senior editor Stephanie Clary in our team’s backchannel chat, “CNN reporting arrests made, but still feel best to hold for a bit.”

CNN was alone on the story, and NBC said its sources maintained there’s no arrest. A short time later, Fox News reported an arrest, and the Boston Globe sent a short tweet, “Arrest in Boston Marathon bombing.”

As we occasionally see in situations like these, news organizations break a story sourced to the same person — or even sourced to each other. So I sent the Globe a tweet asking for clarification:

@bostonglobe Independently confirmed or passing along CNN’s report?

— Cory Bergman (@corybe)

April 17, 2013

Moments later, the Globe updated to say they had sourced the news to CNN. “I think we’re good to keep holding,” Stephanie explained in the chat.

Then the story crossed on AP. That’s three major sources: CNN, Fox News and AP, which is typically the tipping point for Breaking News on a high-risk story. At this point, Tom and Stephanie were poised to report an arrest, but CBS joined NBC in citing sources denying an arrest had been made.

“I say we still hold,” Stephanie said. “CBS local backing off, too.”

I chimed into the chat, “Is there a way to attribute an arrest to some, and no arrest to others in a single update?”

“I think this is where we can provide clarity versus confusion, and just hold a bit,” Stephanie wrote. “Because I think it’ll be more clear soon. No local orgs reporting it independently is odd to me.”

Stephanie nailed it: moments later, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul said there was no one in custody. ABC reported “no arrest yet.” CNN began backing off on the air, which soon turned into a retraction.

In the heat of the story, Stephanie illustrated what makes Breaking News different. Twitter was a mess, rumors were flying on Facebook and Reddit was coming up with its own bombing suspects. As the only breaking news source that’s independent and agnostic in our curation — we don’t favor any brands, even those of our parent company NBC — we’re in a unique position to help bring a little clarity and order.

But just like any other news organization in this white-knuckled business, we don’t always get it right. We’re not better journalists, we just approach breaking news from a different angle. It’s an imperfect science, and it’s our policy to be massively transparent when we get it wrong.

Over the last couple years, we’ve talked to many people who were surprised to learn we have editors behind the scenes at Breaking News. “Oh, you’re not just another aggregator?” they’d ask, looking at our mobile app. Every update around the clock is published by our editors, I explain. We’re a real-time news service with an editorial filter, occupying a new space between free-wheeling social networks and the rich storytelling and context provided by new organizations.

In a world of intensifying information overload, sometimes less is more, and prudence pays off.

(Post by @corybe. Download our mobile apps here.)

How we balance speed with rumor control: With any big story...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:22:00 -0400

How we balance speed with rumor control: With any big story these days, social networks are both an asset and liability. Matt Roller summed it up this way, tweeting this soon after the Boston explosions:

“Twitter does its best work in the first five minutes after a disaster, and its worst in the twelve hours after that.” - @rolldiggity

At Breaking News, our goal is to balance speed with an editorial filter, keeping rumors at bay while incorporating hundreds of sources. With the Boston story, we’re not quite as fast as Twitter (the crowd is always faster), but we provided a lightning-fast stream of coverage that avoided or downplayed nearly all incorrect reports, including a third explosion, a bombing at the JFK Library and a Saudi suspect in custody.

Here’s our technique: moments after the explosions, our editors tracked dozens of Boston news sources — news organizations, officials and eyewitnesses — looking for a new report on the story. Just as on-the-ground news organizations compare sources before reporting new information, our editors compared these new reports with coverage from other news and official sources.

For example, when one news organization reported that five unexploded devices have been discovered, we noticed that no other news organization or law enforcement source was reporting anything similar. In that scenario, we table the story and wait for a second news organization to confirm with its own sources or an official source makes an announcement. There was no confirmation, and the story turned out to be false.

We use this multiple sourcing approach for reports with a higher risk or a history of being wrong, and that’s where our editorial experience comes into play. Early reports from mass casualty stories are often in flux, and here are a few examples we’ve learned:

    - Leaked reports of suspect descriptions are nearly always wrong and overly vague — in this case, it was a “dark skinned” or black man with a black backpack — so we avoid reporting any description until officially released by law enforcement.

    - Initial reports of a second suspect are nearly always wrong. Most mass shootings in the U.S. are initially reported as a “possible second suspect” but nearly universally are the work of a single person.

   - Casualty counts are often inflated in the first hour or two, sometimes dramatically. So we tend to report these numbers carefully. Interestingly in Boston, the opposite was true: early estimates were remarkably low.

These are just a few of the red flags that we’ve learned along the way, and they also apply to eyewitness reports, which we run through a more stringent verification process. We have two rules of thumb: 1) If it’s too good to be true, it probably is 2) As much as we want to be fast, it never hurts to wait a beat.

This is an imperfect science, and we’re not always right. But when we’re wrong, we want to be the first to admit it, applying the same urgency of telling a breaking story with the occasional necessity of correcting it.

We’re working on a new version of Breaking News — coming early this summer — that takes our unique blend of reliable, real-time coverage a step further. Stay tuned…

(Post by @corybe. Photo by Elise Amendola / AP)

It’s that time of year, and Breaking News is headed to...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:11:00 -0500

It’s that time of year, and Breaking News is headed to SXSW in Austin. We’re sponsoring the very popular “Awesomest Journalism Party” on Saturday evening, featuring awesome Texas food and beer. This party is always PACKED — just a couple blocks from the convention center — but you can gain an edge with a VIP ticket.

If your news organization is a #breaking tipping partner (you can check at the bottom of this page), send a tweet to Breaking News’ Stephanie Clary to ask for a VIP ticket. She’ll give them out on a first-come-first-serve basis. When we run out of our allocation, you can always RSVP for a regular ticket.

Being on the VIP list allows you expedited entry in a separate line. However, please come early to be safe, as in past years the party has generally filled up and there has been a wait even for the VIP list. But people who got there early usually had minimal problems.

See you there!

Over 300 Twitter accounts #breaking the news

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:39:00 -0500

Over a year and a half ago, we began an experiment to whitelist Twitter accounts from participating news organizations as a way for them to tip our Breaking News editors in real time. We’ve now crossed the 300 mark, spanning news organizations large and small, global and local — the largest news tipping network on Twitter.

It works by appending the #breaking or #breakingnews hashtag to a news organization’s tweet (it also works for #amberalert and #silveralert). Moments later, our editors are alerted of the tweet, which helps elevate the story above the tornado of real-time reports in social media today. You can see the alerts by clicking the “all sources” button on BreakingNews.com.

In many cases, if it’s the first time we’ve seen the story, our editors will promote the story in our mobile apps, website and @breakingnews with a direct link, crediting the originator. Altogether, we send over 200,000 clicks a day to original breaking stories, not to mention a burst of social followers and big SEO stake in the ground.

Our thanks to all of the participating news organizations. Hashtagging your breaking tweets helps us give credit where credit is due.

To learn more about how to whitelist a news organization’s Twitter account into the network — and to see which stories our editors tend to link — visit our Breaking News partner page.

Desktop alerts are here! We just rolled out a new update to our...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:41:00 -0500

Desktop alerts are here! We just rolled out a new update to our Windows 8 app that brings major Breaking News alerts to your desktop and tablet — even when you’re not inside the app.

As you can see above, a Breaking News alert has appeared on the upper-right of the screen. Depending on the news, we typically send one or two a day, focusing on the biggest stories. You’ll need to activate the notifications when you first download or update the app.

We’ve also launched a “live tile” that displays the latest breaking stories — smaller stories that we update throughout the day — on the Start screen. For more details about a report, you can pop open the Breaking News app and drill down to the source of the story. For our news partners, this will mean more clicks as Windows 8 scales.

Both of these additions make it easy to stay on top of the news in real-time with minimal interruption while you work. Download the Windows 8 app right here. If you have a Windows Phone, we have an app for that, too.

Breaking News launches on Windows Phones

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:25:00 -0500

Got your hands on a new Window 8 phone? Or a Windows 7.5+ device? We’ve just launched the Breaking News app for Windows Phone featuring the same lightning-fast coverage you’ve come to expect on BreakingNews.com and our iOS and Android apps.

Our team of journalists scour the planet for breaking news, quickly sifting out unconfirmed reports and boiling it all down to a simple, straightforward feed of real-time news. You can track your favorite stories, browse the biggest stories of the day and drill down to the original reports. There’s no faster source of reliable news on a Windows Phone.

We’ve just launched the app, but we’re already working on an update: live tiles and notifications are coming soon.

If you have a Windows 8 tablet or PC, we have an app for that, too.

Why Twitter's army of 'Mechanical Turks' will not conquer breaking news

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:13:00 -0500

Twitter revealed this week that it uses Mechanical Turk — a crowdsourced pool of people — as an innovative way to help identify and classify search queries as soon as they’re trending. For example, the Mechanical Turks could associate the phrase “Big Bird” with a Presidential debate.

Twitter’s announcement prompted a tech blog to proclaim, “Watch out CNN, new Twitter search capabilities will rule breaking news.” The premise: if humans can help organize trending content on Twitter — perhaps in its Discover tab — then “why would anyone get breaking news from another source?”

But there’s a big distinction between trending content and breaking news. While Twitter’s Turks will help bring much-needed context to the platform, they’re not journalists who verify whether something is true. As we’ve seen with the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and Superstorm Sandy, Twitter rumors ran rampant. Some rumors turned out to be true, but many were inaccurate or even malicious. Some were important, others were trivial.

At Breaking News, we rely on experienced journalists (that’s one of them, Stephanie Clary, above) to verify real-time reports and prioritize their importance. We also add context, associating reports with ongoing stories, topics and locations. But accuracy and importance — along with speed — are the essence of breaking news for any news organization.

Let’s take an example from Twitter’s own blog post: the tweet with a photo of Flight 1549 floating in the Hudson River from January 2009. Using Mechanical Turk, they would be able to associate that tweet with searches for “plane crash,” for example, as well as elevate it on its Discover tab. But Twitter won’t know whether the tweet and photo are real or fake.

It turns out that Breaking News’ Lauren McCullough discovered that tweet when she worked at The Associated Press, quickly verifying its authenticity (and obtaining permission) before it was published — the first news organization to do so. As it ran on the AP wire, hundreds of newsrooms picked up the photo, bringing a trustworthy story to the masses.

In recent years, Twitter’s platform has attracted a growing wave of eyewitness news reports scattered among a firehose of other tweets. Its audience is growing, too. Verification and prioritization matter more than ever. That’s one reason Breaking News exists: we provide a verification layer over the crush of real-time reports, boiling it down to what’s true and what’s important to you.

We believe Twitter is not a sweeping substitute for breaking news, but a complement. Some consumers get their breaking news from Twitter — that’s why @breakingnews is there — others get their breaking news directly from trusted sources. Others do both interchangeably. Twitter will not replace news organizations, but as it has, it will work in concert with them.

Just as Twitter is taking steps to become more relevant for its users, so are we. We believe breaking news is broken in many ways — a broadcast-style of journalism grafted to the web — and we’re working on a new version of Breaking News reinvented around the mobile device.

Stay tuned! (Post by @corybe)

Jacecko, Johnson join Breaking News team

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:26:00 -0500

We’re very excited to announce two talented additions to Breaking News:

John Jacecko - John joins our West Coast creative team as a mobile developer focusing on our iOS app. A self-described Apple fanboy, he’s been building iOS apps for several years, helping Breaking News over the last several months as a contractor until we scooped him up full-time. His roots are in video game development, and he even owned a small game development firm a few years back.

Grace Johnson - Grace joins our New York team as a staff editor after freelancing and interning with us since the summer of 2011. Grace is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she was a part of the renowned Medill Innocence Project as a student investigator. In addition to her internship with Breaking News and NBCNews.com, she interned at the Times in Cape Town, South Africa, and at the Journal Times in Racine, Wisconsin. Follow her at @gracej89.

Welcome John and Grace!

(Post by @corybe and @lfmccullough)

The most retweeted stories of 2012

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:56:00 -0500

Breaking News’ Twitter account, @breakingnews surpassed 5 million followers on New Years Eve, and we thought it would be fun to look back over 2012 and list our retweeted stories of the year. As you’ll see, this is surprisingly different than your standard top stories of the year list. Without further ado, here we go in reverse order:

5. Whitney Houston

Pop music vocalist, film star Whitney Houston dies at age 48 on.today.com/A3Cy6J
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) February 12, 2012

4. Gangnam Style

‘Gangnam Style’ becomes 1st video to ever reach 1 billion views - @billboardbiz bit.ly/XUzJiH
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) December 21, 2012

3. Gangnam Style (again!?)

Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ becomes YouTube’s most watched video, registering more than 803 million views - @afp bit.ly/TieJkL
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) November 24, 2012

2. Derrick Rose

Chicago Bulls PG Derrick Rose has torn ACL and MCL in left knee, will miss remainder of playoffs - @nbcmiami
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) April 28, 2012

1. Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the 1st man on the moon, has died at age 82 - @nbcnews
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) August 25, 2012

That last tweet generated over 8,900 retweets, which is double our RT record from 2011: the death of Steve Jobs.

Mobile is about solving problems

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:21:00 -0500

News Corp’s mobile-first startup The Daily is done, publishing its last story later this month. “The single biggest failing?” writes former employee Trevor Butterworth. “You can’t create an entirely new brand and take it behind a paywall after 4 weeks, while limiting its footprint on the Internet, and then expect people to buy it.” He also said The Daily’s content wasn’t differentiated enough.

To me, the two-year experiment at The Daily — which we should all applaud — signals a bigger challenge. Mobile is not merely another form factor, but an entirely new ecosystem that rewards utility. To succeed, companies must solve consumers’ problems.

If you watch startups pitch their products, they frequently begin by describing a real-life problem. For example, when you open up the wine menu at a restaurant and struggle with a selection. That’s the problem “Corki” recently described at a Startup Weekend event in Seattle, and the team plans to solve it with an app that scans wine lists and enables users to pick their favorite wines based on personal tastes. The problem leads into the opportunity and sets the context for everything.

“The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It’s to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself,” explains Y Combinator’s Paul Graham. “By far the most common mistake startups make is to solve problems no one has.”

In the journalism world, countless mobile efforts are platform extensions. There’s an urgency to get our branded content in front of consumers, wherever they are. Such extensions are a competitive reality, but they’re often just a new design for a new form factor. A growing number of mobile-first efforts, like The Daily, aim to rise above repurposed content with a fresh approach. But many lack a real problem to solve.

At Breaking News, we think about this a lot. What are the problems to solve around breaking news? That’s what we’re working on right now, and stay tuned for more blog posts about the unique challenges and opportunities of breaking news in a mobile universe.

(Post by @corybe. Earlier: 9 ways to become mobile first)

From a falling tree to mobile traffic records, a blockbuster 10 days at Breaking News

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:49:00 -0500

Our heads are still spinning after covering a double-punch of big stories, starting with Sandy and ending with election night. One of our Breaking News editors even narrowly escaped serious injury — or worse — as Sandy slammed into Long Island:

But first, let’s take a look at the numbers.

Working around the clock, our editorial team posted nearly 3,000 updates on our mobile apps and BreakingNews.com over the last ten days, with about one-quarter of those appearing on Twitter. For Sandy alone, we boiled down an avalanche of coverage to 1,012 real-time updates over several days, linking original, verified reports from hundreds of news organizations and eyewitnesses on the scene.

Breaking News’ mobile traffic soared 50% and downloads jumped 130% — setting a new record by a long shot — but even more interesting is the fact it skyrocketed over desktop traffic by a surprising 3-to-1 margin. We’re not just mobile-first anymore; we’re mobile-dominant.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising given the sea change of news consumption toward phones and tablets. Martin McClellan, our senior designer, says his 75 year-old mom is “hooked” on checking her iPhone for news. She even blogged about her experience checking the Breaking News app in the middle of the night for election updates.

“Come on, only people under thirty take their iPhones to bed with them,” wrote Marilyn McClellan. “I’m am definitely not in that generation — but, there you have it, my confession!”

While mobile traffic surges, keep in mind that BreakingNews.com’s desktop traffic is no slouch, ranked #1 in Google for the search term “breaking news” and drawing a big spike during Sandy and the election. But the increasingly old-fashioned desktop is no match for combined mobile app and web traffic, especially as tablet use continues to explode.

Through all of this, we can’t be more relieved that Lauren McCullough, our supervising editor, survived a terrifying experience when Sandy made landfall on Long Island. “A tree crashed through my parents’ living room where we were all sitting tonight,” she emailed us at 1 a.m. “The roof came down on us, but we’re all fine and were able to get out of the house.”

Lauren was able to communicate with us — and send us that amazing photo above — because she escaped with her iPhone. “Miraculously (or telling), I was holding my phone when the roof collapsed and the tree came in, and I must have kept a life grip on it,” she emailed.

Mobile phones have becomes lifelines during big stories, both for people in the thick of the news and others experiencing it from afar. At Breaking News, we’re invested in making the mobile experience the fastest, most reliable source of news when it matters most.

(Post by @corybe)

Three Sandy rumors that circulated on social media: As you might...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:31:00 -0400

Three Sandy rumors that circulated on social media: As you might imagine from a story of this magnitude, Sandy has sparked a torrent of photos, videos and other reporting from both the media and a large population armed with smart phones and Twitter accounts. The Breaking News team has been hard at work verifying photos and videos with our real-time curation (The Atlantic has a great collection of fake and verified photos), but we’ve also been investigating several rumored stories that circulated on social media and escalated at the height of the storm:

1. Three feet of water at the NYSE trading floor - It’s unclear where this rumor originated exactly — the National Weather Service says it was a mention in “broadcast media,” while Buzzfeed reports it came from a tweet — but the erroneous report ended up in the NWS internal chat tool. It was subsequently picked up by The Weather Channel’s Hurricane Twitter account and broadcast by CNN, triggering an avalanche of social sharing. (Poynter has a more in-depth look here.)

Our team was already scouring photos and videos in Wall Street, and we saw several tweets questioning the report. We decided to hold off and search for a confirmation:

We’re not reporting that NYSE trading floor flooding yet — still only “NWS chat” as source, which CNN also sourced.
— Cory Bergman (@corybe) October 30, 2012

Moments later, we discovered a tweet from Politico’s Ben White who said a senior NYSE official told him the report was false. Several other reporters, too, from CNBC, WSJ and the Weather Channel followed:

NYSE official tells me reports of water on the floor of the Exchange are FALSE.
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) October 30, 2012

We then fired off a tweet to help spread the word:

Rumors of NYSE trading floor flooding are not true, says NYSE - @politico @cnbc @weatherchannel
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) October 30, 2012

2. Coney Island hospital on fire, patients trapped inside - This story wasn’t picked up by the media as widely as NYSE, but it generated quite a flurry on Twitter. It originated from the scanner — FDNY firefighters could be heard having trouble gaining access to Coney Island to respond to a report of a fire at the hospital:

Brooklyn: FDNY is enroute to Coney Island Hospital for a reported fire on the third floor with a heavy smoke condition.
— NY Scanner (@NYScanner) October 30, 2012

Several others shared the link to listen to the FDNY scanner online, and sure enough, you could hear (as we did) firefighters attempting to negotiate high water to reach the hospital. The story suddenly became a dramatic rescue attempt with hundreds of lives in danger, and it quickly spread across Twitter. However:

#FDNY units are on scene at Coney Island Hospital. No confirmed fire or reports of injuries at this time.
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 30, 2012

We held off on this rumor as well — as with most media, we don’t share unconfirmed scanner traffic — and we shared the FDNY’s tweet that put an end to the drama. Turns out, as this local blog reports, the FDNY was responding to a car fire in the parking lot, which was extinguished before firefighters arrived. As the FDNY tweeted soon after, “There is much misinformation being spread about #Sandy’s impact on #NYC.”

(Slate has more background on how this rumor developed.)

3. Con Ed employees trapped in flooded plant after explosion - This story began with a flash caught on video and Reuters story about a rescue. The video showed an electrical explosion in Manhattan, and it was widely shared on Twitter. After Con Ed acknowledged an explosion at a substation in the area, we shared the clip on Breaking News, but we held off on any other news about the substation. While the clip is the real deal, Reuters reported that a full-scale rescue of trapped employees was underway, sparking another flurry of Twitter rumors. A couple hours later, Con Ed tweeted:

#ConEd - No Con Edison employees are trapped in a building. The story spreading is a rumor.
— Con Edison (@ConEdison) October 30, 2012

With any major story these days, the media will make mistakes, just as we have made in previous stories. Twitter served both as a rumor and truth machine, simultaneously spreading and debunking false reports, leaving some at wit’s end:

I’m going to stop retweeting news here. Realizing that half of what I see is being contradicted (see, Con Ed workers not trapped)
— Maggie Koerth-Baker (@maggiekb1) October 30, 2012

Ok so no burning hospital in Coney Island, no Con Ed workers trapped in power plant, no 3 feet of water in NYSE - who started these rumors?
— John Seabrook (@jmseabrook) October 30, 2012

This is why we believe Breaking News — not just as a Twitter account, but as a mobile and online destination in its own — fulfills a key role in the evolving new world of journalism. You could argue that Twitter “self-corrects” in real time, but in reality, it isn’t always that fast:

I guess the people saying Twitter fact checks itself have already forgotten how many HOURS we thought Coney Island hospital was on fire for.
— Dick Wisdom (@nostrich) October 30, 2012

Few Twitter users are following all the journalists that journalists follow, and many are left hanging when a rumor takes on a life of its own. Just as Twitter is important as a communications platform, so are the news organizations that verify social media reports — both on social media and on their own coverage platforms.

It’s always a good reminder that today’s news consumer should not live by social media alone — as Twitter would say, it’s an ecosystem.

- Post by @corybe

Breaking News geared up for Sandy

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 19:22:00 -0400

As a devastating storm nears landfall in the Northeastern US, Breaking News has staffed up to provide expanded real-time coverage, 24 hours a day. A storm of this magnitude – stretching across several states and hundreds of local media companies and government agencies – will produce an avalanche of information. Our editors are monitoring these sources in real time, and we’re filtering and publishing the most important reports as they’re made available. We’re also sharing the most impactful eyewitness photos and videos we discover and verify via social media.

While @breakingnews on Twitter will share the major highlights, we’ll be publishing a much higher volume of developments on our Breaking News apps and BreakingNews.com. For those in the storm’s path, power outages are a certainty, so our mobile apps as well as our dedicated @breakingstorm Twitter account – which can be configured to send SMS messages – will come in handy.

And, of course, we’ll continue our coverage on Facebook, Tumblr, Google+ and our other social channels. Stay safe everyone.

Got Windows 8? Get the Breaking News app

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:23:18 -0400

Microsoft rolled out Windows 8 and its Surface devices today, and we’re happy to announce that a new Breaking News app is already here, ready for download. It’s optimized for both the desktop and the tablet.

Just like all our other apps, there’s no faster way to stay on top of the world’s breaking news, verified by our 24/7 team of journalists. New updates appear from hundreds of news sources, and we boil it down to a reliable, real-time feed that focuses on just what’s new. No screaming, no fluff, no rumors—just news.

Our favorite feature is “snap view” — just drag the app to the side of the screen, and it will snap into place. New updates will appear automatically while you engage with the rest of the screen. (Warning: news junkies might want to use in moderation.)

We have a lot more features planned, so please give it a try and let us know what you think!

About the same time that Tumblr went offline this morning,...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:05:00 -0400

About the same time that Tumblr went offline this morning, BreakingNews.com and our mobile apps went down, as well. During the downtime, we continued publishing on Twitter and Facebook. We’re now back online, and we apologize for the downtime. It stemmed from Google’s cloud outage, which may have been related in some way to the larger Tumblr outage, as well. Back to the news…

For those of you sporting iPhone 5s, we’ve just rolled out...

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:31:00 -0400

For those of you sporting iPhone 5s, we’ve just rolled out an updated Breaking News app (iTunes) optimized for the larger screen. The app runs even faster on the new iOS 6.

We’ve also added new ways to share or bookmark an update: Linkedin, Pocket, Readability and Diigo have been added to Twitter, Facebook, email and SMS. Plus, push notifications now open the individual update, making it easier to jump to the original story (which was a popular user request.)

Let us know what you think, and more features are on the way!

Using social media in newsgathering journalism.co.uk has...

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:01:20 -0400

Using social media in newsgathering

journalism.co.uk has compiled 14 tips on how to find sources and stories using social media, including advice from our own Dave Wyllie, better known to most as @journodave.

Photo: Pedro Lozano on Flickr, via journalism.co.uk. Creative commons licence. Some rights reserved.