The Rush to Be First, Television News Fails Gabrielle Giffords
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
Today is an awful day to be watching television. And it was supposed to be a good one with the NFL Playoffs, gee what a way to spend the weekend.
Then Tucson, Arizona became central to this country. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head in that city and the TV news frenzy is on big time. I was first alerted by this horrible incident from a “breaking news” e-mail from ABC News.
This is what I received…
Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Dies After Being Shot at Public Appearance in Tucson, Arizona – Reports [2:28 p.m. ET]
Then 22 minutes later from the same service…
Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Surgery After Being Shot at Public Appearance, Husband Says, Following Conflicting Reports About Her Condition [2:50 p.m. ET]
The news business is an awful mess. ABC News declared the Congresswoman dead before confirming with any credible source and 22 minutes later corrected and awful news mistake.
Trying to be first rather than right.
In my first few years in broadcasting I worked at two radio stations in Philadelphia. The legendary KYW Newsradio and 1210 The Talk, which was several other names over the past 30 plus years. They were news radio at one point, sports at another, “The Feel of Philadelphia” during another phase.
KYW Newsradio has always been KYW Newsradio. One of the most respected news broadcast outlets in America.
Two stories.
I was a desk assistant at KYW at 17 years of age. The radio station had two news services. The Associated Press and United Press International. Not sure which news service had Elvis Presley’s death as a “breaking news” story first. But I remember pulling that story off one news wire and ran to the editor at that time thinking that he would get the story on the air immediately.
He didn’t.
He said the radio station would wait, I repeat wait, until the other news service confirmed that Elvis Presley had in fact passed away. No rush to be first, just to get it right.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Maybe slightly under 10 minutes.
Then later in my career there was 1210 The Talk. We had a News Director there who made it a point to “beat’ KYW Newsradio to ever breaking story. His passion in life was to beat KYW in getting a story on the air first just to build up his ego of topping the news leader KYW Newsradio.
Little did he understand the philosophy that getting it right rather than first was key in news and journalism. KYW could care less whether they got beat to a story first. They owned the market for news on the radio side while 1210AM, was well 15 different formats and names over the past 35 years.
There quite frankly is no other reason to put a story on the air unless the information you broadcast is fully confirmed.
No rush.
Imagine friends and family getting that e-mail from ABC News. That she had died from this tragic incident. And ABC News with a rush to get the story on the air first rather than right.
Two stories from a personal standpoint. On a Saturday afternoon while I watch the President speak about Congresswoman Giffords. I should be watching football, the Saints and the Seahawks and I’m writing about poor news coverage.
OK. My two cents. Back to the game. Need a break from this mess.
Rick Thomas
