In an effort to be first out of the gate, “verification” is one step in the breaking news process that doesn’t always make the cut. As Mashable already noted in the immediate aftermath of today’s healthcare announcement, bewilderment reigned. CNN, Fox, HuffPo, AJC – they all broke the same news: “Healthcare Mandate Unconstitutional.” The word was out on TV, on Twitter, on websites … and it was all wrong.
Don’t be surprised. It’s not the first time the media got it wrong, and I’m 100% sure it won’t be the last.
From the serious:
- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is dead. No he’s not. Yes he is. Well, he’s sort-of dead. (New York Times led the correction on this one but wasn’t alone in the confusing reports.)
- “Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is dead.” Actually, no. She’s not. The media apologized for this error. (NPR, Reuters, CNN and more had itchy trigger fingers on this breaking news.)
To the not-so-serious:
- Lindsay Lohan is rushed to hospital after being found unconscious. Nope, she’s fine. Just “napping.” (HuffPo kept us updated on LiLo’s status.)
As with all cases of misreported breaking news, my social feeds become an endless supply of snarky content – which I would argue is the sunny side of shoddy journalism.
- Editorial writers are doing a sh*tload of find/replace right now. (Andy Borowitz)
- Abe Lincoln Attends Play at Ford Theater, Has Great Time #CNNHeadlines (Josh Hara)
- CNN and Fox News join forces in getting historic breaking news completely wrong. (someecards)
Just another day in the Twitter-fueled newsroom.
As senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman specializes in building and maintaining relationships with the media and has an excellent track record of landing significant placements in print and broadcast media including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Money Magazine.
As design director at Cookerly, Tim serves as the creative lead in the development of branding campaigns, print collateral and digital media for clients across a broad range of industries, including consumer, professional services, healthcare and technology.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.