Breaking news is a term for an event or story that is developing, and needs to be reported as soon as possible. This usually refers to a major incident, like a shooting or a fire. It can also include a natural disaster. Breaking news stories are often the most chaotic and confusing to cover, and in their rush to be first, media outlets can make mistakes. For example, NPR’s erroneous report that Gabrielle Giffords had died was based on information from eyewitnesses, which are often unreliable.
In the age of 24-hour news networks, it’s common for regular non-news programming to be interrupted by a breaking news update. Typically, the network will announce that an interruption is coming, and the current program will pause briefly to allow affiliated stations to switch over to the breaking news feed. An opening graphic with a distinctive music cue is then shown, and the breaking news story is presented by a host.
It’s easy to feel like the world is rushing headlong into an abyss of war, climate change, and economic insecurity. But there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful — from groundbreaking medical advances to environmental wins that don’t get the attention they deserve. For instance, artificial intelligence has moved from sci-fi fantasy to medical reality, and Google’s AI can now spot diabetic retinopathy (a leading cause of blindness) in smartphone photos. And supermarkets are getting smarter, with dynamic pricing systems that reduce prices as food approaches its sell-by date, and AI helping stores predict demand more accurately.