‘Breaking News Abuse’: CNN ‘Breaking News’ Reports Titanic Sunk 102 Years Ago

'Breaking News' From CNN! The Titanic Sunk...102 Years Ago (NewsBusters)

CNN has been roundly mocked this week for extreme abuse of the "breaking news alert." On Monday night, Bill Weir combined yet another of the network's stories on the missing Malaysian flight with the anniversary of the Titanic's sinking. A graphic appeared on-screen that blared, "BREAKING NEWS: Titanic sunk 102 years ago tonight."

The segment was so ridiculous that even the liberal Washington Post derided CNN. Humor writer Alexandra Petri scolded her cable colleagues, sarcastically noting, "Thank heavens they’re here to tell us these things!" She wondered, "What happened to the Hinderberg? Is the Lusitania okay? I haven’t heard from that Donner Party in a while."