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January 4, 2006 9:55 AM

A Night (And Morning) Of Misinformation

Posted by Vaughn Ververs
Perhaps not since “Dewey Defeats Truman” has the nation awoken to newspaper headlines so wrong. “Alive! Miners beat odds” screams the USA Today, reporting that twelve West Virginia miners trapped by an explosion had been rescued after 41 hours. Many other papers, including The New York Time, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times carried similar information. And it was the news many cable news watchers drifted off to sleep to as well, as happy family members told of their joy and relief.

We now know that news turned dramatically in the wee hours of the morning, after several hours of celebration, the families and the press learned that all but one of those miners were dead. What has followed this morning has been a lot of confusion, not to mention plenty of anger directed at officials in charge of the rescue operation and the media. Exactly how the misinformation got out and became so widely accepted is not yet clear. What is evident though is we’re in for a day of examination. PE will get back to this story with more a little later, but we leave you with this opening shot at the press from Editor & Publisher’s Greg Mitchell:
“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.’”
What do you think?

Update: Click here for more from Public Eye on the media's coverage of the West Virginia mining tragedy. And click here for all of our Public Eye offerings.
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miners
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Add a Comment See all 23 Comments
by dj_halnon January 5, 2006 4:11 PM EST
Those who overheard and misunderstood the rescuers' report bear full responsibility for this fiasco. The company had instructed those involved not to say anything without confirmation. But they didn't wait for any confirmation. Instead they blabbed to the church, and it went out all over the place. Part of the problem is that too many were expecting some kind of divine intervention ... and the very moment that it appeared this had happened, they leapt to announce it to the world. While I can understand the families' keeping their hopes up, it's less understandable that those around them would be so eager to proclaim a "miracle." This is an example of the excessive religiosity of Americans. It's one thing to be part of a religion; it's another to depart with all reason and assume, without confirmation, that God had intervened and a "miracle" had occurred. People really need to learn to get hold of themselves. At any rate, those now wailing about how the company let this misinformation get out, should instead rail against those who "blabbed," AGAINST company instructions. The company might have handled it better by correcting the story sooner, however, they'd pursued a policy of caution all along, and until some of their people blabbed too soon, this policy had worked just fine.
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by mizzgnomer January 5, 2006 9:46 AM EST
I don't blame the news media. I really don't blame anyone over the misinformation. From what I read the rescuers told headquarters there were checking vitals. Checking vitals to me means they are seeing who is alive and who is dead. It was misinterputed. The three hour gap was just wrong. The familys and friends should have been told immediately there was a mistake, that the rescuers had found the men and they didn't know who was alive or who was dead at that point. While that would have raised some hopes it would have also prepared the people there for the worse case.
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by minnxe January 5, 2006 8:07 AM EST
Also, I want to be perfectly clear that I am not blaming anyone--especially the rescue teams--nor do I blame the media (to my own surprise). I don't blame anyone, really, but I would like more information from the executives and non-emergency/rescue personnel. I have never heard of emergency responders to relay information in the way it was done in this instance. They are, along with the victims and survivors are the sole heroes in this.
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by minnxe January 5, 2006 7:42 AM EST
Nothing compares to the tragedy and sorrow this devastating accident has wrought on the families and community in Tallmansville send my warmest prayers to all the victims/survivors--both living and lost. Secondary to the needs and caring that needs to be focused on the victims and survivirs, there are several things are troubling me that I hope to find answers to in the coming hours and days. Of course human error is always a consideration, in all circumstances. However, as hard as I want to believe this is the single factor in this story I can't quite accept it entirely. So, my question-- or statement--is this: Why has the issue not been addressed that both sets of contradictory information were true--when issued. The fact that the authorities waited 3 hours to correct the initial information and say they were checking vital signs, makes me wonder if in fact some of those miners were in fact still alive at 11:45 but by 2:44--were not. These experienced miners got away from the blast area and barricaded themselves with the battrice curtain. High levels of CO2 can be measured near pockets of good air. What happened in that 3 hour gap -- and I want to know why no one is asking these questiions. Did something happen? were there last words that the families have every right to know? Perhaps not. But something doesn't make sense to me. Thank you and God Bless
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by bethatwork January 5, 2006 2:43 AM EST
Prayers for the families. Prayer for the one whose communication got misunderstood. Shame to those who let so much time go by without correction. And ??? for reporters who aren't finding facts, but are reporting what they are fed and looking for those emotional sound bites.
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by henry_jg January 4, 2006 8:26 PM EST
point number two the oxygen units that the miners have are only good for one hour depending on how they are beathing. That would seem to me that you only have one hour to get them out of there. After that you odds go down from there. There should be a quicker plan of getting people traped in mines out of there. I was frustrated and sick to my stomach that it took so long before they started the process.
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by henry_jg January 4, 2006 8:16 PM EST
I believe the rescue crew did a good job with what they were allowed to do. The only problem that I have is that the time span that everything was done in. I am a trained firefighter and the obvious thing to do would be to get fresh air in the mine, and find the easiest way in. From my understanding the tunnel was not blocked that should have been the first place to try.
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by goldesprit January 4, 2006 8:10 PM EST
Giving false news is the same as one printing their own money--when news organizations are monetarily compensated from the action. We The People must require the REAL news--to the fullest extent humanly possible. Way less Spin. Less Retractions--because less mistakes are made by Responsible Reporting at all levels. How to accomplish this? Attach that responsibility. Penalize false reporting--drastically. Certainly the miners famlies were in some measure informed thru Public news (but additionally privately). Who to look towards? Spend real money investigating the very first REPORTED false story--and who repeated. REAL Reporters are not supposed to act as lay persons, who might say anything without having a professional standard that should be adhered to. Fire individual reporters-- and sue some responsible News Companies.
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by bodhisoma January 4, 2006 7:46 PM EST
I do not blame the senior company people for the mistaken report. Everyone wanted so badly for the miners to be found alive, it's easy to see how it spiralled out of control, and I believe they acted in as rational a manner as could be expected. Having said that, I sympathize with the families. To be put in that position, only to be raised up and slammed right back into the ground is cruel, but not anyone's "fault." But all this talk about who is to blame about the miscommunication is missing the point. The "miscommunication" didn't kill the miners, it only exacerbated an already tragic situation. The substandard mine conditions that were allowed to continue unchecked will cause lifetimes of sorrow and that is the real issue people should be focusing on. Just yesterday, in an unrelated discussion, my boss said he thought the time of unions were "long past due." But it is coming to light that apparently these workers were in fear of their jobs if they complained about the unsafe conditions. Mining is an inherently unsafe occupation, but regulatiosn are why we have a few dozen die each year while hundreds die in China each year. So why were these conditions allowed to occur and why was the mine not shut down? People before profits, period. I hope the company gets sued into oblivion but not for the so-called "miscommunication." Regards, bodhi
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by bobbyweiss2 January 4, 2006 5:59 PM EST
I think there are many people that are tying together the anger and grief of the relatives of the victims with media irresposibility. The families that heard the news that their relatives were more than likely alive did not get that news from the New York Post or the New York Daily News, or any other media outlet. It was a horrible mistake, but it was made by someone at the scene, and that mistake spread like wildfire by cell phones and word of mouth, not by newspapers or tv stations. The media outlets believed it just like the families did. The headlines of "They're Alive!" were an embarrassment because the facts were not checked, and it illustrated how quickly something false can be reported. It is indeed irresponsible to report something without checking out a source or two, but in no way were the families of the victims misled by the media. They were horribly misled, but the media reports are (or should be) a totally seperate issue.
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by vrobbee January 4, 2006 5:23 PM EST
I don't blame the rescuers for giving incorrect information. I believe that when they (the rescuers) saw the miners, someone must have yelled, "We Found Them". That information got twisted around and was interpreted as to the miners being alive. Someone took off with that information. I do have a problem with the families being led to believe for 3 hours that their loved ones were alive. If that weren't true and they were still checking the vitals of the miners, they should have immediately corrected the statement and let the people know that they had not determined the life/deaf of the miners yet and that they were still working on it. We ALL knew their chances were very slim but we had hope. The families had been through so much in the last couple of days. The families need to be left alone to grieve. I noticed on the news last night how the commentators kept focusing on who leaked the information instead of trying to console the families. Very insensitive! They just wanted a good story! SHAME ON YOU!
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by goldesprit January 4, 2006 5:06 PM EST
The (electronic and other)PRESS is now reporting on its own mistakes for dramatic filler in between advertising. If they can create news about news about news--which is what may have been the original impetus to push over the first false domino of information--the (monetary driven)process is more self-perpetuating. SOMEONE in the ranks of the press--didn't check their source properly--and all of the press looked the other way IN THE MACHINATED, COMPOSITE INDUSTRY HOPE -- that someone would be "accidently" forced to come forward to confirm or deny the original "good news". When these...TACTICS...did fail--all the news outlets pretend that they don't...QUITE...understand the above atmosphere within their own ranks! Foolish indeed!
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by pierson98 January 4, 2006 4:37 PM EST
Such a tragedy for the families involved, and for the whole town. Especially noteworthy is the opinion poll currently gracing the cbsnews.com front page: "Who is responsible" for the false reports that miners were alive? The choices include the coal company, the governor, don't know, and no one. Interestingly, no choice for "the new media outlets, who, despite never having been told anything by the coal company OR the governor, immediately trampled over each other in the rush to file heart-warming reports based on rumor and overheard converations." Whatever they have to do to crank up advertising revenues.
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by amber723 January 4, 2006 4:21 PM EST
I think that in the people's excitement of hearing they had found the minors, someone did actually misinterpreted the fact that they had found them with the idea that they had been found alive. And once the rumor was spread, in the midst of that type of exitement, there is not much anyone can do to control it. In situations as emotionally catastrophic as these people faced, it would have been one of the first things that would of popped in their minds after the success of the miners that were trapped and lived in PA.
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by braniff77 January 4, 2006 4:10 PM EST
The New York Times actually seemed to be a bit cautious (and rightly so as it turns out) in their page 1 story this morning by stating that the news that 12 miners had been found alive was based on what "family members and a state official said...". They also noted that a state official said that the miners were being examined and would be taken to nearby hospitals. So it seems that the Times was a bit sceptical even though someone in authority was supposedly giving out positive info. The NY Post and Daily News, on the other hand each had big "ALIVE" headlines on the editions I saw as I walked to work. When I went to their web sites, the front pages were totally different: "CHAOS" and "SHOCK". I don't know if they reprinted later editions during the night, but they surely jumped the gun with the first edition.
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by alphaa10-2009 January 4, 2006 4:05 PM EST
Your website front page met me with screaming anguish on the face of a widow-- the emotional equivalent of having a video camera thrust into a wound. In the name of decency, if not also professionalism, how can any news organization justify this intrusion? If only out of respect for the families (if not also the victims) tape your coverage from a respectful distance. Back off, news ghouls! That we cannot distinguish CBS from any tabloid is embarrassing, and the apparent goals are exactly the same-- offer anything, in any manner, so long as you grab readers by the throat. I deeply resent this episode by CBS-- no matter what other news hacks did with their coverage-- because your people are supposed to know better. Had the widow been in full frontal nudity, of course, her photo never would have been aired, presumably out of "respect for her privacy". Like others, I note the rush to go with the good news, rather than rush to verify, so how is CBS any different than a rumor-monger? Where does professional journalism enter the picture? If it does, at all...
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by m4rtn January 4, 2006 3:42 PM EST
In the present day's media environment of instant updates, rolling 24hr news and the web it is us the public that demand to know what is happening NOW. The papers have a disadvantage in this respect. They should concentrate on in-depth investigative journalism and analysis rather than trying to compete with news flashes. Whenever a major incident occurs the 24 news stations seem to relish in a rising death count. The tsunami in Asia really exposed outlets like Skynews here in Europe to be parasites of human sufferring.
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by arakaczky January 4, 2006 3:36 PM EST
"If your mother says she loves you, check it out."
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by one_american January 4, 2006 3:29 PM EST
When the MSM reports only what it can confirm, instead of what it wants to believe, they will once again earn the public trust. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.
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by hs_nc January 4, 2006 3:25 PM EST
From everything that I have read...the sheriff's dept did not make a statement until around 2:30am...which was to say only one had survived. How in the world did EVERY news organization run with a story that supposedly was based on another miner overhearing something from the rescue efforts? Are there no checks and balances before going on air? I guess you don't want to miss filming the family reacting to news...so the media gets caught up in it too. Every channel I turn to it is...the horror of the family, people sobbing...we got that point during the Early Show guys....let these people deal with it in peace. There have to be thousands of cameras and reporters there....because everyone is carrying this as the lead story. When do you finally say..the family's reactions- no longer news? Until new information comes out on how this happened...can't at least one station give these people a break? Nothing new has come out since about 8am EST this morning..yet there are new pictures---of the same people...still upset...just from a different angle...or more upset..or now actually crying when before it only looked like they were about to cry.
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