A flash is our first word of a breaking story of transcendent importance, a story we expect to be one of the very top stories of the year. We average one or two flashes a year. They’re never more than one sentence, and frequently very condensed: “Bells ringing signaling election of a pope.”
In the old days when AP subscribers received news over teletype machines, a flash rang a series of bells on the machine, sending editors rushing to see what was happening. Usually there were 10 to 15 bells for a flash, but AP teletype operators had to type a “bell” symbol to trigger each ring, and in the excitement of a big story the number could vary.
Today, AP editors still put a “flash” designation on stories (by clicking a “flash priority” button on our editing screens). That marks the item electronically as being a flash and may insert the word “FLASH” into the story as well. But subscribers set their computer systems to react to that code in different ways. Some systems sound an audible alarm or pop up the flash in the middle of the editor’s screen. Other systems may simply move the flash into the queue of other urgent stories. (AP identifies less transcendent, but still urgent, breaking news as “APNewsAlerts” without the flash designation.
Sometimes we know in advance that a story will merit a flash. This was the plan for Nelson Mandela’s death. But big news can happen without warning. When the United States killed Osama bin Laden and Pope Benedict XVI decided to resign, editors decided on the spot that a flash was warranted.
Here are some of our other flashes from the past 10 years:
_ Nov. 6, 2012 – Barack Obama re-elected president
_ Dec. 18, 2011 – North Korea says supreme leader Kim Jong Il has died
_ Feb. 11, 2011 – Egyptian VP says President Hosni Mubarak steps down
_ Aug. 16, 2008 – Michael Phelps wins record eighth gold medal at Beijing Olympics
_ Feb. 19, 2008 – Official media says Fidel Castro resigns presidency
_ Dec. 27, 2007 – A party aide and a military official say Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has died following a suicide bombing
_ Oct. 14, 2003 – China launches manned spacecraft
_ Sept. 11, 2001 – Second World Trade Center tower collapses
_ Sept. 11, 2001 – One World Trade Center tower collapses
