CNN

I'm watching CNN at 10:51 pm broadcasting a live Obama speech. This is being hailed as "Breaking News". Why is Obama making a speech considered breaking news? It's a great speech and I'm enjoying it, but why is this "breaking news"? I'm stunned. Did he pay for this?

breaking news

It seems that the speech was being aired in real time, and the CNN coverage in real time makes it news that's breaking at the moment as opposed to prerecorded reports. Breaking news, in other words, doesn't have to mean mean it's some kind of disaster or super special event, only that it's "now."

Here's what Webster's sez:

Main Entry: breaking news
Part of Speech: n
Definition: news that is happening and being reported or revealed at this moment
Example: CNN reports the breaking news.