The anatomy of a breaking news story
Updated on 21 February 2008
Blog: A breaking news story is what excites us and today we got one.
We were in our regular 2.15pm editorial meeting, where we run through the stories that will be on the show each night, when the call came through to the programme editor - Steve Wright, guilty.
That meant the running order we were discussing was immediately thrown out.
We've got three pieces planned for an Ipswich verdict and a programme that doesn't increase in length. So Tesco's plans on alcohol pricing, British Gas' huge profits and the sad and sorry tale of the sectioning of Gazza, will all be turned from reports to 20 seconds in the newsbelt.
The other immediate change - a scramble to put a newsflash on air within a quarter of an hour.
Alex Thomson, who's presenting tonight, got on the first train to Ipswich where he'll be live at seven.
And I ran to make-up to grab a bit of foundation while Felicity Spector, who writes a lot of the programme, put together a 30 second newsflash.
At 14.49 exactly and I was live on air announcing that Steve Wright was guilty and would be sentenced tomorrow.
Our home affairs correspondent Andy Davies has already cut a lengthy backgrounder on Steve Wright and the women he killed.
Thirty seconds doesn't give you a great deal of time for information - all that will come tonight.
While I write, Darshna Soni will be rushing around Ipswich crown court, putting together the news story of the day with all the reaction on the court steps to the jury's verdict.
Our home affairs correspondent Andy Davies has already cut a lengthy backgrounder on Steve Wright and the women he killed.
And from where I'm sitting I can see our political correspondent Cathy Newman busy finishing off her seven minute piece on how the law on prostitution might change. She spent valentine's night, of all nights, out filming on the streets with several prostitutes - it's enlightening and depressing stuff.
A trial and its verdict is something a news organisation can plan for in advance - you'll see the outcome of all that planning if you tune in at seven.
