When ethics and urgency collide - lessons in Breaking News

The President’s State of the Nation Address was the leading story across radio and television on the morning of 14 February 2013, until about 8am. I was the executive producer on duty when the news broke. We were the first to receive the tip. We broke the story.

But we were scooped.

As ethical journalists, our team followed the standard rule: do not name or show images of a suspect until they’ve appeared in court. The difference this time was that the suspect was a household name, a globally recognized Paralympian.

A regional radio station named him first, quickly followed by a national broadcaster. Suddenly, we were in a moral and editorial crisis. Decisions had to be made.

By 9am, we went live. We named Oscar Pistorius as the man suspected of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. We were the first television news channel to do so.

I sat in the producer’s chair for five intense hours as updates flooded in. By midday, CNN and Sky News had requested our live feeds. The story had gone global.

The decision to name Pistorius wasn’t made lightly. But news values had to be considered. This was a tragic, high-profile case, undeniably newsworthy. News values exist to help us determine what audiences need to know and what they will care about.

Gender-based violence remains disturbingly pervasive in South Africa. This case, regardless of the suspect’s fame, would likely have made headlines. A woman shot dead in a high-security estate in an affluent suburb, in the early hours of the morning, is a story with disturbing and unusual elements.

It was also a stark reminder: violence against women knows no boundaries. It happens in private homes, behind high walls, in supposedly "safe" spaces. This story was never going to be a 90-second voiceover slotted at the end of a bulletin. It was unfolding in real-time, with powerful, unique, and painful layers.

Journalism often involves making difficult calls. But our core values must remain intact. It's our job to deliver information that serves the public interest, not to sensationalize, but to contextualize. Sometimes, the biggest stories are also the heaviest to carry.