“Breaking News drives 200,000 clicks a day to original breaking stories”

Breaking News is a real-time news service that strives to reward publishers for breaking original stories. Our editors monitor hundreds of global news sources and social media for the first, original instance of a breaking report. Once we've discovered and verified a story, we publish a short update with a link, crediting the originator.

We began on Twitter as @breakingnews, which is now the most retweeted news Twitter account in the world. We've grown into a large distribution network spanning mobile apps, BreakingNews.com, social services and partners like MSN and NBC News. Together, Breaking News drives 200,000 clicks a day to original breaking stories, not to mention a burst of social followers and big SEO stake in the ground. In today's world of "over aggregation," Breaking News helps news organizations stay ahead of the stories they break.

By becoming a Breaking News tipster, newsrooms and journalists can fast-track stories to our editorial team, increasing the odds we spot an original breaking story. So far, over 300 news organizations are participating including TV networks, local stations, wire services and newspapers large and small.

How does it work?

It starts with adding your Twitter account. To request to join our tipping program, please drop us a note with your name, email and news organization's Twitter handle. We're approving news organizations and journalists with a track record of covering breaking news that's of interest to a regional, national or global audience. Individual journalists may qualify if they're breaking news firsthand (as opposed to curating breaking news from others.)

Once you're whitelisted, just include #breaking, #breakingnews or @breakingnews anywhere in a breaking news tweet:

The same also applies for any mention of the #AmberAlert or #SilverAlert hashtag in a tweet.

Within two minutes, the tweet will appear in the "all sources" feed on the home page of BreakingNews.com, which helps elevate the story above the thousands of tweets, wire updates, email alerts, RSS updates and video feeds we monitor. These items are immediately visible to the public. Our editors are at the helm 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they watch incoming tips for stories to promote to our main publishing channels.

What kind of breaking stories?

We're looking for original breaking news stories with regional or greater interest. We try to avoid truly local news stories, and we're careful to not favor one news organization over another. During a big story, we publish a higher volume of updates, including links to live video coverage, social media photos and YouTube clips. We avoid opinion pieces, features and most investigative stories (unless it's breaking news itself.)

Our goal is to identify the first instance of the story, although in reality, sometimes we publish the first original instance of the story that we see. This is why the tipster program is important for publishers to jump above the fray.

Where are the links published?

If a story is selected by our editors, it's published on BreakingNews.com, MSN and our mobile apps (iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows 7). Larger stories may also be published on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Tumblr, Flipboard, Google Currents and other social services. The biggest stories are simultaneously published everywhere across the Breaking News network, including a push alert on our mobile apps.

On average day, we send 200,000 referrals to news organization and social services. However, identifying these referrals can be tricky due to the diverse nature of our network. If you see big burst of traffic from Twitter or MSN, for example, that may have originated from Breaking News.

Who is Breaking News?

We're a separate startup inside the NBC News Digital Network with offices in Seattle, New York, London. Despite our affiliation with NBC News, we're staunchly agnostic, working with editorial partners of all shapes and sizes. Our experienced team has worked for the AP, Mashable, Seattle Times, Minnesota Public Radio, msnbc.com, ITV and NBC News.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to drop us a note.

Our current partners: