Explaining Reporting Process During Breaking News

Published on January 15, 2019March 26, 2019 by Lynn Walsh | Reading Time: < 1 minute

After receiving a 911 audio tape close to air time WUSA found itself in a situation where it had to turn a story quickly. Like many breaking news situations, this means, information may come out in pieces and not all in one concise story. To explain this, WUSA let the user in on their reporting process by adding the following language on-air: "We have about a half-hour of 9-1-1 audio that our team is going through, right now -- If there's anything else in there that's important to pass along -- we'll have it for you tomorrow morning, on Wake up Washington." — After receiving a 911 audio tape close to air time WUSA found itself in a situation where it had to turn a story quickly. Like many breaking news situations, this means, information may come out in pieces and not all in one concise story. To explain this, WUSA let the user in on their reporting process by adding the following language on-air: “We have about a half-hour of 9-1-1 audio that our team is going through, right now — If there’s anything else in there that’s important to pass along — we’ll have it for you tomorrow morning, on Wake up Washington.”

Lynn Walsh

lynn@trustingnews.org | + posts

Assistant director Lynn Walsh (she/her) is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has worked in investigative journalism at the national level and locally in California, Ohio, Texas and Florida. She is the former Ethics Chair for the Society of Professional Journalists and a past national president for the organization. Based in San Diego, Lynn is also an adjunct professor and freelance journalist. She can be reached at lynn@TrustingNews.org and on Twitter @lwalsh.