For more than four decades, FlashAlert has been the trusted platform for distributing school closures, emergency updates, and press releases to the media and the public.
FlashAlert has collected and distributed school weather closure information to the news media for 44 years. With the arrival of the Internet two decades ago, the system grew from 60 school districts in Portland to more than 2,000 users across the NW and in Colorado Springs.
To make the system useful year-round, FlashAlert added a channel for news releases. Nearly every police and fire agency, from Longview to Medford, now use FlashAlert. In Portland, we distribute 30-40 news releases a day.
Messages are delivered via email, a web page that the media works from, and files pushed into news media websites.
Some organizations allow the public to self-subscribe to their emergency messages and/or news releases. FlashAlert Messenger delivers those messages to subscribers via email, and push notifications through the FA Messenger app for iOS and Android.
FlashAlert is a platform for distributing press releases and closure notifications. It helps organizations of all sizes efficiently share emergency updates and news releases with the media and the public.
FlashAlert has two service tiers in Portland and Colorado Springs. Other regions have just the premium tier.
Once logged in to your FA account, you’ll find options to “Post Closure or Emergency Report” and “Post News Release (non-emergency).”
Outside of the annual subscription fee to FlashAlert, there is no cost or limit for submitting press releases or emergency notifications.
Press releases and emergencies are sent immediately.
Yes. From the editor, select “Save as Draft or Send Later,” set the date and time, and hit Update.
Any organization—corporate, nonprofit, government, or educational—can use the platform. FlashAlert handles news for ODOT, OSP, and nearly all police agencies.
Through email, web, and media feeds. The information is pushed into media websites and crawls, ensuring wide visibility.
Yes. You can correct and re-send, or just update the version on the site without re-sending.
Closure notifications are sent directly to media (including TV stations) and can appear on-screen scrolls (premium tier).
With a free FlashAlert Messenger account, you can subscribe to receive email, text, or app notifications. You can also explore our website for press releases and emergency alerts from across the NW.