breakingcreep
/ˈbreɪkɪŋˌkriːp/nounVerified NewThe gradual spread of "breaking news" labeling onto routine stories, until the flag signals nothing.
Breaking used to mean the building is on fire; it now means the newsroom has something to push. Each inflation makes the next easier, and the flag's information value approaches zero.
Etym. — breaking (news) + creep — scope creep in an alert banner.
Novelty check: NEW · checked 2026-11-08
review evidence: wordstoreview/review-batch-3-10-media.md
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Method: Editorial batch review — per-word exact-form web search (WebSearch/Tavily) per docs/REVIEW-criteria.md §2