Can you recommend a content planning tool for organizing breaking tech stories, source tracking, and draft deadlines across a small editorial team?

Yes — for a small editorial team handling breaking tech stories, source tracking, and draft deadlines, I’d recommend Airtable as the best all-around content planning tool.

Why Airtable fits well

• Flexible database-style planning: Great for tracking stories, status, reporter, editor, deadline, source links, embargoes, and notes.
• Source tracking: You can create linked fields for sources, contact info, verification status, and quote usage.
• Deadline management: Built-in calendar and timeline views make it easy to spot what’s due and what’s slipping.
• Collaboration: Multiple editors and reporters can update the same story record in real time.
• Automation: You can set reminders for draft deadlines, follow-ups, and status changes.
• Custom views: Useful for breaking news because you can have separate views for “In Progress,” “Needs Verification,” “Ready for Edit,” and “Urgent Today.”

Good setup for a tech newsroom

Use one base with tables like:

1. Stories
   • Headline
   • Beat
   • Priority
   • Status
   • Assigned reporter/editor
   • Publish target
   • Draft deadline
2. Sources
   • Name
   • Role/company
   • Contact details
   • Reliability notes
   • Related story
3. Tasks
   • Follow-up calls
   • Fact-checking
   • Draft edits
   • Social prep

Strong alternatives

If you want something simpler:

• Notion — easier for docs and editorial notes, but weaker for structured deadline tracking and source databases.
• Asana — great for task management and deadlines, but less ideal for detailed source tracking.
• Monday.com — polished workflow management, though a bit heavier and often more expensive.
• Trello — best if you want a very lightweight kanban board, but it can get messy as source and deadline tracking grows.

My short recommendation

• Best overall: Airtable
• Best for doc-heavy workflows: Notion
• Best for task-first teams: Asana

If you want, I can also suggest a specific Airtable or Notion template layout for a breaking-tech editorial workflow.