Thursday, August 21, 2008

She’s Dead. No She’s Not. No, wait…yes, she is.

Some media moved quickly to correct their erroneous stories (using anonymous sources) announcing the death of an Ohio congresswoman. As soon as the corrections got out, though, she actually died.

Reminded me of my old publisher who said “Be first, but be right.”

And another thing – why would you use an anonymous source in these circumstances in reporting a death? It’s unfortunate, but the rush to declare someone dead puts journalists in an unseemly light.