STRUGGLE FOR MEDIA TO CHECK ACCURACY OVER NEWS OF HEATH LEDGER’S DEATH
January 24th 2008 01:41
The Los Angeles Times tracked the errors made mostly via internet media sources during the breaking of the Heath Ledger-is-dead news.
The LA Times said, “If you watched the story of Heath Ledger’s death explode chaotically across the internet, with facts, errors, inconsistencies and confusions flying every which way, you may have concluded that in the new digital media’s race to break stories in minutes, accuracy has been left in the dust.
“Chief among the media’s switchbacks was the early non-fact that Ledger’s death had taken place at the New York apartment of Mary-Kate Olsen. Celebrity news site TMX.com and even the New York Times' City Room blog reported this piece of misinformation before they unreported it.
“But here’s the problem: Stories have never arrived to the world fully formed or vetted. Journalists have generally had hours – not minutes or seconds – to craft a story from the blast wave of facts and factoids that comes in the wake of a bombshell.
“What people are seeing now is an old-fashioned process – reporting – as it unfolds in real time. If the public wants its information as raw and immediate as possible, it'll have to get used to a few missteps along the way, and maybe even approach breaking stories with a bit of scepticism, like a good reporter would.”
In Australia the story broke in real time news time – at the busy end of the television morning shows.
Channel Nines Today show did an excellent job of reporting by reminding viewers that all reports were unconfirmed, and then confirming facts if proved correct.
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