Middletown Press Editor Viktoria Sundqvist teaches her staff about breaking news protocol

1. BREAKING
NEWS
Be ready when it happens

2. WHAT IS ‘BREAKING’ NEWS?
• Fires
• Accidents
• Structure collapses
• Explosions
• Top officials getting fired/quitting
• Big lawsuits against towns/cities
• Big arrests
• High-profile local court cases

3. THE SMS ALERT
• Confirm the information
• Provide 1 sentence to your editor or the BNT
in New Haven – speed is key here
• Think 120 characters
-- or less

4. POSTING TO THE WEBSITE
• Get something up, immediately
• Enough with 1-2 sentences
• Info should be posted to line-up category
‘breaking news 1’ slot
• If unsure how to post, email your breaking
news to editor (or BNT in New Haven)
• Should be done within 5 min of SMS alert

5. SEND EMAIL BLAST
• Make sure story is posted in ‘Breaking News 1’ slot on front
page of site
• Visit engage.middletownpress.com/schedule-breaking
• LOGIN: middletownpress.com@simplyengage.com
• PW:
• Send to breaking news list – schedule – DONE
• Make sure you are signed up for this for MP site and that
emails are not landing in your spam folder

6. TWEETING THE NEWS
• Tweet a link to your breaking news story from
the brand account (Hootsuite, TweetDeck)
• Include the same basic information from the
SMS alert, leave room for shortened URL
• Add relevant #hashtags, i.e. #ctbreaking or
town names such as #Middletown, #Cromwell
• Retweet from your own Twitter account
and/or tag your own Twitter handle, if room

7. UPDATING THE STORY
• Make phone calls, add quotes
• Add background info, links
• Add photos, audio or video
• Think of it as working for a wire service

8. FACEBOOK, GOOGLE +
• Post to FB brand account
• Preferably when story has pic
(Hootsuite is good for picking
up pix added later on, FB slow)
• Interact – ask for comments
or photo submissions from event
• Share on your own Facebook wall
• Share story on Google + (brand and your own)

9. THE SIX BASIC STEPS
• SMS alert
• Website
• Breaking news email
• Twitter
• Update story, add photos, videos
• Facebook, Google +