Thread by @ashtonpittman

Using "BREAKING" at the start of a tweet can either mean:
a) "this is news that's just now happening/developing"
b) "I'm the reporter breaking this story"

What it can't mean is: "This is news someone else reported days/weeks ago that we are now tweeting with no link or credit."

The list of big non-journalistic accounts that have built followers in the hundreds of thousands using "BREAKING" or "NEWS" while presenting someone else's reporting as their own without credit or a link is long. Yes, it definitely includes @OccupyDemocrats, but many others,
too.

I'm not talking about small accounts that do this sometimes. I'm talking about large accounts with 100s of thousands of followers who have made their name with viral tweets that rip off actual journalists—many of them small, local, poorly paid reporters w/1k-3k followers.

If you see someone with a lot of followers who isn't a journalist start tweets with "BREAKING" or "NEWS" or "SCOOP" but they don't link to a source and aren't doing on-the-ground reporting, don't RT them.

Then search for the reporter they ripped off & RT them.

Also: Feel free to call them out. :-)

P.S. I'm not trying to be a snob or protective of reporter lingo. I don't mind if someone with 900 followers does it imitating local journalists they follow.

But the big accounts getting viral tweets of this trick & amassing huge followings? They KNOW what they're doing.

Or if you don't want to risk the scorn of their followers, DM me about them.

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1438660517548236803