BREAKING NEWS MODEL
This document should be used in conjunction with other useful documents including:
1. A breaking news “on-call” list of available staff during various days and hours
2. A list of the most important phone numbers, emails, and office locations on campus
(and a few off campus that are highly relevant).
News event in progress…
Editor in Chief (EIC) and Multimedia Director (MD) coordinate on the type of coverage as
soon as possible and set off parallel courses of action for their respective staffs:
Print Staff
1. EIC, in coordination with the photo editor, sends reporter(s) and photographer(s) to
cover the story and assigns correlated section editor(s) to aid the reporter(s) from
the newsroom. In some cases, an editor may need to go get the report or photos
directly, but this option should not be the default course of action.
2. The editor(s) can do research from the newsroom as well as begin to construct the
short news alerts as the reporter sends details in. Additionally, editors can begin to
conceptualize the bigger story for more detailed follow-up stories.
3. The EIC should review the news briefs/developing news content, checking for
factual accuracy, legal and ethical issues, style, and technical execution of the
writing.
4. EIC passes info. on to MD for update on the Web site.
5. Prior to the next print edition, the editorial staff should develop the initial news
brief(s) into longer stories with more depth. By this stage, the
presentation/graphics developer should be consulted for optimal presentation of
the content, both in print and online (info. graphic, map, layout and design, or
anything else visual).
Multimedia Staff
1. MD sends videographer(s) and reporter(s) to cover the story.
2. MD and/or Webmaster plan and prepare page(s) for expected content. MD should
do the necessary research on the news event from the newsroom for quick
incorporation of info. into initial reports and for fact checking of basic information
collected by the videographers/reporters in the field.
3. Info. passed on from the EIC should be placed online in an appropriate section. On
the home page, the audience needs to see “Breaking News” or “Developing News”
displayed prominently in order to redirect them to the section of the site with the
new info. Webmaster should update social media to direct traffic to the site.
4. The initial online content should focus on speed of delivery to the audience rather
than depth of info., but accuracy is still extremely important. If certain info. is not
yet validated, it should not go into the initial small packages. If these updates can be
developed and uploaded from a distance, then the MD may ask
videographers/reporters to do that. However, the MD should quickly review the
uploaded content to ensure its suitability for the site. If the content is problematic,
the MD may choose not to make it available to the public.
5. Once reporters are ready for substantial editing of longer packages with more depth
of info., the MD should guide the process to ensure optimal presentation as well as
journalistic quality. The EIC should also be consulted, not only to help maintain
journalistic standards, but also to ensure congruity and harmony between print and
online content.
Updated 5-25-11