[Intro]

No gong.

No banner.

No countdown.

Priya reads the source

twice.

[Verse]

Gordon pointed towards the lamp:
"Get BREAKING on before they're first."
Maya held the keyboard still:
"Maybe we should check first."

Leo adjusted in his chair:
"We're twenty seconds from the break."
Maya said, "Then fill twenty seconds—
Truth can take the time it takes."

[Pre-Chorus]

One source isn't two.
A rumour isn't news.
Silence for a minute
is a choice that we can choose.

[Chorus]

Maybe we should check first,
Before we tell the country "worst."
Before the banner starts to burst,
Maybe we should check first.

Call the source and check the line—
Being second isn't a curse.

[Verse]

A message hit the desk at two:
"Explosion heard near Western Line."
No photograph, no agency,
No witness we could name as mine.

Priya called the city desk—
No incident had reached the fire crew.
She called the railway press office:
"No explosion here that we know of."

[Chorus]

Maybe we should check first,
Before we tell the country "worst."
Before the banner starts to burst,
Maybe we should check first.

Ask what's known and mark the time—
Facts don't lose because they're terse.

[Instrumental Break]

[Bridge]

For the first time in three weeks, the lamp goes dark.
The newsroom looks almost blue. Nobody speaks for seven seconds.
Leo says, "This feels strange."
Maya answers: "This is what not knowing sounds like."

[Build-up]

One verified fact. Then another. Source by source, line by line.
Leo takes the next script
and crosses out
every "MAY" and "COULD."

[Final Chorus]

Maybe we should check first,
Before the language does its worst.
We can still be fast and clear—
Trust is harder to reverse.

[Leo]

Maybe—

We should check first.

[Outro]

Gordon looks at the ratings.

They are down.

Maya looks at the script.

It is correct.
