Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Getting it First, but getting it wrong
This is where news goes wrong.A number of media outlets are reporting that Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first African American woman to represent Ohio in Congress died today.
And these aren't podunk papers or TV stations who may not know better.
I'm talking CNN. Bloomberg. Shoot, I heard it on NPR.
Here's what Associated Content said: The Associated Press reported that she was discovered slumped over the wheel of her car, apparently after having suffered an aneurysm. As late as 12:30 PM ET, Market Watch quotes her office as reporting that Ms. Tubbs Jones was stable and receiving the best of care. Yet it was The Hill that speculated Stephanie Tubbs Jones would be taken off life support this afternoon. At 2:07 PM ET Politico reported that Tubbs Jones was indeed taken off life support and deceased. Nevertheless, MSNBC now suggest that the news is a bit ahead of life, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones is still very much among the living as of 2:41 PM ET.
In our effort to get it first, we're getting to wrong.
I heard the news in my car (said NPR news update I mentioned earlier) and when I got back to my desk, saw a flurry of e-mails from other journalists looking to confirm the news. So I did what any person of my generation would do -- I googled Tubbs Jones.
My first indication reports of her death had been exaggerated: Wikipedia. I didn't click on the link, but I could clearly see that there was not a date of death in the entry. Hmmm. I searched further.
Google News.
I found maybe 3 stories that said she'd died, right next to stories that (rightly) said she had an aneurysm and was in critical condition with limited brain function. To their credit, I did another search and found that many of the news outlets had taken down the report of Tubbs Jones' death in the scant 15 minutes I spent searching. I did still find one article from CBS News that confirmed her death.
So in my final act to confirm, I went to the only source I know I can trust: the local paper. I figured if anybody got it right, or would be willing to correct the error, it would be the paper that Tubbs Jones reads every day herself.
From the Cleveland Plain-Dealer:
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in Congress, is in critical condition after suffering a burst aneurysm last night, officials said this afternoon.
Officials updated her condition this afternoon after conflicting reports that the congresswoman was dead. Numerous media outlets - including The Plain Dealer on its Web site cleveland.com, CNN and the Associated Press - reported that Tubbs Jones had died.
But that was as of 3:30 p.m.
Send up a few prayers for Tubbs Jones. And let's pray we get the story right next time.
Labels: controversy, journalism, the industry
continue...Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Why I love editorial cartoons...
And while we're at it...
And another good link, click here.
Labels: comic strip, controversy, musings
continue...Friday, January 18, 2008
I Wonder...
A question for all you fellow journos.How many other people review your work before it's published or put on air?
Do you have an editor, a copy editor and a section editor?
Or is it a line producer, followed by a supervising producer?
Here at the wire, it's a deputy editor, followed by the national editor. And that's for every piece of copy that's put out on the wire -- as many as ten stories in an hour.
So humor me this... how many people do you think saw this...
...before it went to press?
Apparently no one who in the offices of GolfWeek saw a problem before the issue hit newsstands. But now? Well, now that folks are crying foul, GolfWeek is doubling back -- issuing an apology, removing the graphic from its site and reportedly firing the editor at the helm.
But clearly, Dave Seanor wasn't the only person to have seen cover before it went to print. Has anyone talked to the cover artist? The guy in charge of the cover artist? The guy in charge of the guy in charge of the cover artist?
No one saw an issue here?
No one said, "Umm, dude... this is a noose"?
*sigh*
I'm just wondering.
Labels: controversy, dismay, diversity, lessons, musings, the industry
continue...Thursday, November 15, 2007
"You Make Me Sick."
It started off benign enough.“West Bay,” I said into the phone. “Talia Buford speaking.”
“Yeah, I was reading your article on Wednesday,” said the caller.
“Which one?”
“The one on Payette,” he said.
I scroll through our archives and pull it up. A West Warwick man was arrested in connection with the stabbing death of another man the weekend in my community. I did the second day story, covered the arraignment and also spoke to Payette's sister, who said the system failed her brother.
I prompt the caller to continue.
“It’s reporters like you who give the ACI (the state corrections system) a bad name. He’s scumb. He woulda killed you if you looked at him funny. I knew the guy. And you talk to his low-life sister? Give him a job. The best thing that could happen to this guy is to give him the gas chamber. You make me sick. Why don’t you report the truth for once?”
Then he hangs up.
I sat there silent for a few seconds before hanging up the phone. The sigh that escaped from my lips had to be covered in frustration and hurt.
The voice from over the cubicle says quietly: “Talia, are you okay?”
I tell my coworker I’m fine. And I go back to work.
Labels: controversy, frustration, Job survival, readers
continue...Monday, August 20, 2007
Cartoonin' it: Going too far?
Seen today on Richard Prince's Journalisms (8/20):
A reporter/cartoonist from the Florida Sun-Times is somewhere "dodging tomatoes" right now because of the above cartoon. Readers are reportedly upset about the use of the word "ho" and references to the "stop snitching" culture that has been permeating urban (and suburban, depending on how you look at it) communities for many years.
My two-cents:
Good for him! I'm always glad to see someone who doesn't mind getting under the skin of the reader, even if it's done to appeal to the lowbrow individuals out there.
It's time someone take up where Aaron McGruder (Boondocks) left off!
It's just too bad that the cartoonist's editor didn't stand firm in his decision to publish the piece:
--Mike Clark, the editorial page editor, reviewed and approved the cartoon by longtime Times-Union cartoonist Ed Gamble.
"'Using the word "ho" was bad judgment, and I regret that I did not edit it out,' Clark said.
...wait...isn't that the point?
Labels: comic strip, controversy
continue...