Breaking news

Today’s Diocese bankruptcy story revived an off-and-on debate over breaking news on the Web. Some background - S-R reporter John Stucke was the only journalist listening in on yesterday’s hearing, and once he had the details nailed down, we posted the story and sent an e-mail news alert. Not long afterward, business editor Addy Hatch got an e-mail alert from one of the local TV affiliates, who had “Just Learned” about the decision. The AP also got on the story, and by midafternoon it was moving nationwide on the wires. “We kind of helped them out there inadvertantly,” city editor David Wasson said.

Stucke had no objection to posting the story - his reasoning being that it doesn’t really count as a “scoop” because it’s a court hearing that’s a matter of public record, and not an investigative report. Also, there’s no way of knowing for sure whether the other outlets heard about the decision from our report or through other sources, nor is it possible to guarantee we would be the only ones with the story by the time the papers hit the doorsteps this morning.

But it does raise another question - does the TV coverage help our hurt our print readership? Some people will hear all they need from the TV report and won’t bother to read about it in the newspaper. Others will merely have their curiosity piqued by the TV report and be more likely to read the story in print because it’s on their minds and they’re seeking more information. Most people at the table agreed that a story this complex is difficult to condense to a TV-sized report (one reporter said a report he saw created more confusion than clarity), and that only the print coverage can give readers a complete picture.

And to further complicate the issue - we did manage to present a simplified version on the front page, which features editor Pia Hansen said was a great way to help readers wade into the complexities. “The first time around, I just did the box,” she said.

So, a question - if you see a story in the newspaper that you heard about on the TV news the night before, does that make you more likely to read it, or more likely to skip it because it’s “old news”?