Back in February, I got e-mails from both the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post with the "breaking news" that Rolo, a dog accused of attacking a neighbor, would not be euthanized.

"Rolo lives," the Rocky informed me.

I like e-mail interruptions during the day to learn about breaking news. That's why I signed up to receive the e-mails from the dailies.

But I can wait a long time to hear the news about a judge's verdict in a dog case. In fact, I'd rather get another e-mail about bulk Viagra than one from the Post about Rolo the dog. Unfortunately, most of the dailies' breaking news e-mails are about trivia, sports, traffic and crime. This is basically the mayhem-and-fluff formula you'd expect to find on local TV, not from a serious journalistic enterprise.

That's what I found after reading the dailies' breaking news alerts from Feb 1. through May 6.

The Post sent 70 breaking news e-mails during this period. Thirty-four percent were about sports and 10 percent about traffic. Crime consumed 17 percent.

There was no breaking news about the Iraq war. Nothing about Congress or the president.

Other than the presidential election, the only national political story that merited a breaking news alert from the Post was New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's resignation in the midst of a sex scandal.

The breaking news from the Colorado legislature consisted of reports that Rep. Douglas Bruce called immigrants "peasants" and Rep. Michael Garcia resigned after being accused of sexual harassment.

There was nothing about the passage of bills providing health insurance to 50,000 kids who lack it or requiring energy companies to credit customers who produce electricity from the sun or wind.

Strangely and sadly enough, while most serious news was being ignored, the Post blasted out the "breaking news" that it had endorsed Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee for president. The editorial opinion of the Post is probably the best example imaginable of what breaking news should not be.

The Rocky's 39 "breaking news" e-mails sent during the same period were much like the Post's. About 21 percent were about sports and another 28 percent about crime and traffic. Its breaking news about national or local political topics was about the same, content-wise, as the Post's. (See details about the breaking news e-mails of both dailies on my blog at www.bigmedia.org.)

Tuesday's news that tens of thousands of people in Myanmar were missing or killed in a cyclone wasn't considered breaking news by the Rocky.

Still, the Post and the Rocky are definitely on the right track in e-mailing breaking news to readers instead of waiting for us to visit their Web sites. People like breaking news. That's why it's hyped so incessantly on local TV news shows.

I'm not saying the dailies' breaking news alerts should ignore the usual breaking news fare (fluff, crime, traffic, weather, sports). But the dailies should send more alerts about government, the environment, schools, international events and such.

By leaving so much of this out, the dailies are missing an opportunity to do what journalists are supposed to do: provide people with serious information in a convenient format.

I asked Rocky editor and publisher John Temple about this.

"By its very nature, the breaking news alert should be pretty related to news that's impacting people or that they care about in that instant, but it doesn't generally have a long shelf life," Temple told me. "It could be very significant, like a surrender in a war or a treaty being signed. I wouldn't argue against that at all."

Temple acknowledged that the signing of a state law can fall into his definition of breaking news, but he said it would have to be a bill that people care about, like Sunday alcohol sales.

I asked him if the bill passed by the Colorado legislature giving 50,000 kids health insurance would make the breaking news cut. He said yes. So if Gov. Bill Ritter signs this bill, I hope to see a breaking news alert about it in my e-mail box.

And, going forward, I hope to see more breaking news about what's important in the world - not just what's simple, arresting and practical.

What breaking news? Maybe you're reading this and wondering why you were unaware that the dailies send "breaking news" e-mails.

It's not your fault. The information about the free service is hard to find on the dailies' Web sites. Both newspapers should make it easier to see and promote it more.

To sign up, find the "tool bar" or "tools" on the dailies' homepages and click on the ill-defined "alerts" button. On the Post's site, click on the vague "e-mail alerts" button.

You can request not only breaking news alerts, but e-mail delivery of other news stories and columns.

Jason Salzman, president of Cause Communications and board chairman of Rocky Mountain Media Watch, is the author of Making the News: A Guide for Activists and Nonprofits. Reach him at salzmanj@RockyMountainNews.com.