The news stopped waiting on May 11, 1996. That’s when HeraldLink, the Miami Herald’s first website, went live.
It happened earlier than planned. ValueJet Flight 592, with 110 people aboard, had just crashed into the Everglades shortly after taking off from Miami International Airport. So, editors decided to press the button and send the developing coverage to computers everywhere.
The ValuJet DC-9 had traveled less than 100 miles west of the airport when the crew reported smoke in the cockpit. The pilot turned around and tried to make it back…