We already shared our thoughts on this tragic situation. Now we’ve had a chance to see how the media (mostly newspapers) chose to explain the situation to the public. Here is a round-up the stories published to explain how the mistake happened. We also highly recommend these (1,2) articles by Editor & Publisher (the second is more recent and more comprehensive) and this excellent commentary by David Perlmutter. This piece on CJR Daily is also a good read.
- Deadlines come before true story (Akron Beacon Journal)
- Responses to ‘Miners’ kin: 12 found alive’ (Arizona Daily Star)
- Some say media erred in mine coverage (AP)
- News outlets scrambled to rectify reports (Baltimore Sun)
- In rush to report, truth becomes a casualty (Boston Globe columnist)
- Delayed truth magnifies pain (Chicago Tribune)
- This is how, why we went wrong on the miners story (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
- Sources’ errors fuel a media nightmare (Dallas Morning News)
- Terrible truth comes too late for newspapers (Dallas Free Press, see sidebar)
- ‘12 survivors’ error reflects changes in way news is delivered (Houston Chronicle)
- Media take hard look at what went wrong (Los Angeles Times)
- A night for ‘Stop the presses!’ (New York Times)
- Corrections (Newsday)
- How the media got the story wrong (Ottawa Citizen)
- How the media got it wrong (Philadelphia Inquirer)
- Yes, we were wrong (Raleigh News & Observer)
- How one News edition printed with an erroneous headline (Rocky Mountain News)
- Truth about survivors came too late for Express-News, and many other newspapers (San Antionio Express-News)
- The peril of breaking news — how it can test editors’ mettle (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Disaster gives media another black eye (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
- Getting it wrong in black and white (Toronto Star)
- Media forced to explain inaccurate reports on tragedy (USA Today)
- Notice to readers: How error on miners’ deaths occurred (Virginian-Pilot)
- Mining misinformation (Washington Post)
