There's a double-edged sword to the strategy of buying up keywords based upon breaking news stories. The news media is increasingly using this as a way to get visitors which they hope will eventually gravitate toward them without using search.
Of course the problem with this strategy is that you're going to pay premium dollar for every word connected to breaking stories, no matter who you are.
The reason news outlets are using this as a means of getting people to their sites is because it will take usually a couple hours for a new page uploaded to a Web site to appear in search. The only guarantee that a story will be connected to a specific Web site is to buy to buy keywords that brings immediate and top level response to searchers.
On the other hand, with the cost of buying keywords connected to breaking news, other media outlets are taking a more long-term and less expensive approach by buying words that are related to exclusive coverage or in-depth reporting. That has a more timeless factor to it that won't draw huge numbers daily, but will draw consistent numbers over a period of time; something that I think is much more valuable for most online marketers. An exception is direct marketing where you're trying to get immediate sales.
For most of us, maybe having an occasional big keyword that brings in a lot of traffic in the short-term, and then using a longer term strategy of keywords that deal more with niche and in-depth keywords would be a more realistic and beneficial strategy that will be more dependable and grew steadily, rather than in huge swings and dips. I like this better than trying to hit the big one all the time.
One thing to keep in mind is connecting some of what you write to the stoies that are popular in the day if you can weave it into what it is you represent.
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