That isn't breaking news

BREAKING NEWS: Domino's Pizza to pay $31,000 for one hour of work
BREAKING NEWS:Vince Gray gets lunch invite from Obama
BREAKING NEWS:Johns Hopkins expands to Malaysia

Definition: Breaking news refers to events that are currently developing, or "breaking." Breaking news usually refers to events that are unexpected, such as a plane crash or building fire. Breaking news can also refer to news that occurs late in the day, close to a news outlet's usual deadline.

For the second time in as many election cycles, the American peacefully removed part of their government and handed some control to another ruling party. The electorate voted in a new speaker of the house and gave history book legitimacy to the tea party, and breaking news is about pizza and a lunch date?

While clearly I've cherry-picked my examples of sub-par 'breaking' news to illustrate a point, I think journos are getting a bit liberal on the definition of breaking news.

My high school journalism teacher would often tell me and my peers that journalism was a delicate "balance between what people wanted to know and what they should know." And I get it, people want to know about Sarah Palin being booed on "Dancing with the Stars," and they want to know about a $31,00/hour job at Domino's but come on; there are more important things going on than Demi Disney checking into rehab.

Is the malaise really that bad? The hit count on The Washington Post and the Pew Center will tell me yes. People don't want to read about the Fed buying $600 billion in bonds, but they really should. That decision will likely affect (cue the tear-jerking music) our children's children. For anyone worried about the state of the economy, that story will clue them in, but I would imagine it will receive half of the hits the newest YouTube scandal will.

If people don't care then journalists should. Reporters are suppose to be gatekeepers of information but it seems these days the floodgate has opened and everything gets through.

I'm not advocating for a news blackout on less-than-serious news coverage but at least don't interrupt my "regularly scheduled program" (okay that never happens anymore) or clog my Twitter feed with "Breaking News" about Tiger Woods' mother being released from the hospital. It is annoying, and frankly, a bit insulting.

I love journalism, but not because it gives me up-to-the-hour updates about which celebrity is shacking up with which co-star.I want professional journalists to let me know what is really important. That's what breaking news is, not the story will the most page views, because let's be honest, people are dumb. The story with the most pages views is often the worst story in the paper, or at least the least important one. But with a good headline and a little luck, it can out reach the rest of the quality news by miles.

So journos, give real news a chance. Reserve breakings news for news that is really important and is actually breaking. I know it may be fun to beat the pack with a Tweet or e-mail, but I know personally, I frequent sites that care less about the hits and more about the reporting.