Battling in the Burgh

Let’s be honest here, the term “Breaking News” in local TV means nothing.

TV consultants long ago ruined the term, when they advised their stations to use the words “breaking news” as much as possible to keep viewers tuned in.

Now, “breaking news” is so overplayed that when there is actually breaking news, the viewer is numb to the words.

WPXI (Pittsburgh) posted a story to their Twitter and crosstown rival WTAE took a shot at the station for covering a story that they in fact covered two days before.

WTAE responded to the WPXI tweet:

Of course, if FTVLive did this every time one of our competitors posted a story that we had days before, our Twitter feed would be clogged with us throwing shade.

I’m all for a station calling out a competitor for being late on a story.

But before WTAE starts throwing rocks from their glass studio, they might want to look at what they do and do not label as “breaking news.”