Erroneous headline and story in paper can't be erased
Here's a Chronicle headline on Page One of today's paper:
Bells ring out for 12 rescued miners: "They're alive!" shout relatives, hours after one worker is found dead by searchers.
It appears the story in the paper is an edited version of this AP story.
The current online headline says: Only one miner found alive in W. Virginia
And you can go to Google News to see the various Chron headlines.
Of course, many newspapers across the country ran with the wrong news on this tragic story, in an effort to be first. But at what cost to media credibility?
The usual media apologist Editor & Publisher is uncharacteristically harsh this morning:
In one of the most disturbing and disgraceful media performances of this type in recent years, television and newspapers carried the tragically wrong news late Tuesday and early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners in West Virginia had been found alive and safe. Hours later they had to reverse course, often blaming the mix-up on "miscommunication."
[snip]
It took three hours for the coal company to correct the reports. It is unclear why the media carried the news without proper sourcing. Some reports claim the early reports spread via cell phones and when loved ones started celebrating most in the media simply joined in.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/04/06 09:28 AM | Houston Chronicle | Print | Comments (12)
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