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Wow….. just getting home from the Sugar Bowl last night and heard they were found alive and then wake to find they are dead. All the papers have it printed that they’re alive and people are really going crazy mad. So sad……
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Our paper printed the same "alive!" story today, but fortunately our online night editor saw the update at 3 this morning so our Web site was accurate.
Gonna be a lot of upset over this, but speaking as a member of the media I think the media has only itself to blame. When official notice has not been given -- and it hadn't, a fact mentioned around paragraph 9 or so in most of the stories -- newspapers should not be reporting it as fact. They can report that people think this is so, or something like "Reports: 12 of 13 miners found alive" or "12 of 13 miners apparently found alive" and they can report that the familes are celebrating, but they should not have come out so strongly with the rumor as fact no matter how certain the families were.
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posted
I agree, Chris, from what I understand this morning the company NEVER made an official announcement that anyone had been found alive. It's quite cruel to think that the families fell victim to rumor, and were put through the joy that came with the news only to find out it was incorrect. The media really should be more responsible in cases like this.
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I do think it was wrong of the company to wait to inform the families, though. They should have gotten them apart and told them the truth as soon as they knew a false rumor was going around, this just made it harder. But, that's a tough call to make if you're there trying to deal with it, and I can see how it would be hard for them to want to do that without all the information.
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We were up when the first word of their "survival" came in. Sad, this lady (CNN Video) had her children with her in the church.
bad move by the media to work off a rumor-- but at the same time, I think we need to remember that they probably didn't know this wasn't an offical report (though they should have at least suspected this, when no word came until several hours later). The news stations only started reporting the rumor after the church bells started ringing.
So while it's not entierly their fault, it seems as if the 24 hour networks seem to have put too much emphasis on getting the story first (that's whole idea), but don't try to verify their facts.
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kq, I think so too. They knew early on that the rumor was likely false, but didn't choose to announce it until they knew for sure. I think that they would have been better to step up and say that it is ONLY a rumor and unconfirmed at this point.
Still, the media is to blame for making it worldwide news without making sure that it was true. I heard commentary to that effect this morning, so at least they're not trying to blame the mining authorities for the mistake.
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I don't think they could sue CNN, (or MSNBC, or FoxNews for that matter) because as far as the stations were concerned, the ringing of the church bells might as well have been an "offical report." IIRC, the media was not actually allowed inside the church, but it was understood that any announcement would be made to the families first (who were inside).
Once again, it was a profoundly bad decision to base their reports on second-hand knowledge. But I really don't think the fault rests entirely with the MSM.
--j_k
[edited several times for clarity.]
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But, that's a tough call to make if you're there trying to deal with it, and I can see how it would be hard for them to want to do that without all the information.
