How do 'News Blackouts' work?

After reading about the potential news about Prince Philip, I've been wondering as to how these "blackouts" actually work. Are news organizations contacted individually by the source and told to keep quiet and a settlement made or are there legal proceedings?

If so, what is the media's end of the deal to keep quiet, and who exactly is informed? These blackouts always seem to succeed - barring this incident, perhaps - yet I wonder how as word must get around from person to person and therefore a 'chinese whisper' effect occurring, yet the news never seems to get 'out' until an announcement.

I think it works on the basis that a news organisation knows that if it runs embargoed news prematurely it risks not being privy to embargoed information in the future.

Of course there have been many examples of embargoes being broken.

Try this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2008/02/news_blackout.html

Embargoes are common for routine announcements (publications of statistics, surveys, official reports and the like, as well as honours lists and award winners).

But all the stuff about lengthy blackouts on deaths of major figures is largely conspiracy theory crap.

You only have to look at the furore re. Prince Harry to know a) how comparatively unusual such an arrangement is and b) it doesn't work anyway!

Blackouts happen when family members are yet to be told

Yes, that's a good point - and far more pertinent than the suggestion made earlier today that the timing of the Grand National might be a consideration

Hmmm... thing is, if Prince Phillip HAS died, then I'm not sure that attention would be being drawn towards it by news agencies saying how he will be out by Monday. Surely they'd just not report anything?

The MoD prevent information from being reported by issuing DA Notices.

Yes, quite often business announcements (mergers, takeovers, profit/loss announcements) will be embargoed so that the news is announced at a suitable time for the stock exchange. There are other comercial reasons too.

If an embargo is broken then the news organisation might not be privy to any future press releases. IIRC they could also be a copyright issue with doing so



Yep, it's difficult to 'cover up' a death of someone high profile, but news of people's death is often delayed. Normally this is either to make sure that family don't hear the news from the media or so that comes out at a better time - many actors/celebrities have their death announced by their agents in the morning even if they died the previous evening. If the news comes out in the evening it will often drop off the agenda by midday so it's held back. Also of course their agents won't be at work overnight

Not to mention giving the broadcasters time to properly prepare reports, special programmes, etc.

Bozz