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During 23 years with the BBC, and a 41 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry always believed that the label ‘BREAKING NEWS’ should only be employed rarely, and even then just on significant stories, but today it is being used all the time, with one Cardiff-based media outlet even having a ‘Breaking news editor’!
it’s actually getting worse, and there is even, now, a ‘Breaking news editor’…
The problem with putting ‘BREAKING NEWS’ on almost any fatuous story, is that people think: ‘Oh they say this all the time, but it doesn’t mean anything’, so the information in a story which might actually be important ‘BREAKING NEWS’ will lose its value and won’t be read.
I was always taught as a journalist the label should be used sparingly and even then in just giving significant news.
But if it isn’t read then journalism is seen as worthless, so let’s delve a bit deeper into today’s situation, because the ‘Breaking news editor’ is on the paper where I started in the 1980s – the South Wales Echo (SWE)
The General Election (GE) saw any number of stories given as ‘BREAKING NEWS’, most of them undeserved.
The crowning glory came for me on the Sunday after it with “Breaking News PM needs to own terrible election results and change course, former home secretary Suella Braverman tells BBC – follow live”.
This came after a succession of absurd uses of the phrase.
They can’t do a ‘soft’ lunar landing, there is renewed violence in Ecuador, and a politician makes a completely vacuous comment on television, were all stories which have been offered as ‘BREAKING NEWS’.
The first one is fairly typical of this kind of nonsense. It is, I’m afraid, pretty tedious, but stay with me because, unfortunately, that is kind of the point! It was declared in the ‘report’: ‘A US lunar lander has “no chance” of making a soft landing on the Moon due to a fuel leak, the company behind the mission says. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic said there was enough propellant to operate its Peregrine lander as a spacecraft’.
It was also ‘BREAKING NEWS’ that Lord Cameron had said to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “We are prepared to back our words with actions”, and on the same show, came further ‘BREAKING NEWS’ that Sir Keir Starmer had proclaimed he would consider supporting further action in response to a war elsewhere “on its merits”.
It was ‘BREAKING NEWS’ that armed men had broken into a television studio in Ecuador.
Meanwhile the BBC had ‘reported’ as well: “BREAKING NEWS Post Office boss (now ex-boss – see our story soon) Nick Read to face MP’s questions over scandal…”. That day we also had from them: BREAKING NEWS Fujitsu’s global chief executive tells BBC the firm is sorry…”.
The corporation gave us more ‘BREAKING NEWS’ one week declaring: “Oppenheimer leads Bafta Film Award nominations with 13…”.
Then there’s Royal news. The BBC published on the same day: “Breaking News: Prince William visits his wife Kate in hospital after she had abdominal surgery”.
But these are only a few examples, because there have been many more.
A completely bland statement from a company or anonymous ‘celebrity’ – ‘BREAKING NEWS’. A totally empty comment by a person in the headlines which gives NO new information whatsoever – ‘BREAKING NEWS‘. The result of, or evidence given in, a pretty standard court case – ‘BREAKING NEWS‘.
Another instance came as Vladimir Putin started a news conference, and I received an ‘urgent’ news update that his war aims were “unchanged”.
It was ‘BREAKING NEWS‘ supposedly, that: ‘Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Russians that peace with Ukraine will only take place “when we achieve our objectives”.
A few hours later we also had from the giant corporation as ‘BREAKING NEWS‘ – “LIVE ‘High probability’ Gaynor Lord went into Norwich river – police”.
On that same day there was, too, the result of a court case in Scotland, which was reported, of course, as ‘BREAKING NEWS‘.
It was seemingly very important we were told that: “Two men and a woman have been found guilty of the murder of a schoolgirl in West Dunbartonshire more than 27 years ago. The ‘BREAKING NEWS’ report added excitedly: “The body of Caroline Glachan, 14, was discovered on the banks of the River Leven in Renton on 25 August 1996”.
But it isn’t just news – sports stories too can be ‘breaking’!
Recently we heard as ‘BREAKING NEWS’ from the BBC that Everton and Nottingham Forest had both been charged with breaching financial rules.
On the day of the Scottish story, we were also provided with an ‘urgent’ sports update by them (as well as from other media outlets), about a woman referee taking charge of a football match.
Reporters stated as ‘BREAKING NEWS‘: “Rebecca Welch will become the first female referee for a Premier League fixture when she officiates Fulham’s match against Burnley on 23 December.
Two days later we were given as ‘BREAKING NEWS’ the latest information about the UK’s entry for Eurovision.
It was seemingly vitally important that we were told: “Pop star Olly Alexander will represent the United Kingdom at next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden”.
The ‘BREAKING NEWS‘ report continued excitedly: “The former Years and Years frontman will hope to improve on the UK’s disappointing performance this year, when Mae Muller came second to last”.
Perhaps I should try it. “BREAKING NEWS – Phil Parry is getting up from his desk”…
Details including the REAL stories Phil has covered in his long journalistic career, as he was gripped by the rare neurological condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order it now!
