As we take time on these pages to talk about Glenn Beck and the lies that come from the media -- today provided a good example of the core problem we have in news reporting today. It's called CONFIRMING THE FACTS -- and it is not only something that is being done less and less in the media -- but by everyone -- from the political halls to the streetcorner discussion.
CNN today went with breaking news coverage, reporting that there was a security breach on the Potomac and that ten shots had been fired. It never confirmed what was going on but instead relied on radio communications among members of the Coast Guard. As it turns out, the Coast Guard was conducting a drill, admittedly not a good idea on 9/11.
Fri Sep 11, 10:11 am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard fired on a suspicious boat in the Potomac River in central Washington, D.C., amid high security while September 11 memorial ceremonies were being held nearby at the Pentagon, CNN reported on Friday.
The embarrassing CNN video:
CNN in a story on its website, seems to be leading with a vindication of itself, highlighting the fact that the Coast Guard did not alert other agencies about the exercise (apparently they didn't notify news organizations either). There is NO mention in the story that the exercise caused CNN to go on the air with breaking news, which made this a story in the first place. The headline reads: Coast Guard to review exercise after Potomac security scare. IT WAS CNN REPORTING THAT CAUSED THE SCARE IN THE FIRST PLACE -- BUT THAT FACT IS LEFT OUT OF THE STORY! Fri Sep 11, 10:11 am ET. CNN is NOT playing the above video on their website. They're only playing clips from the point they got the story right.
Minutes after American Airlines 1549 had ditched into the Hudson River last January and news organizations started learning about the near-impossible event -- a much-respected, senior assignment editor at ABC sent an email around to all news personnel stating that the incident had to be a "movie shoot".
He was wrong.
But in a way he was very right. Right for the way he was thinking.
Today CNN went wild of course, the Breaking News Banner went up and the coverage was wall-to-wall immediately. A lot is already being said about the bright idea to hold a security exercise on 9/11 -- but that has no bearing on what the news network did. They went with a story without checking.
If only someone had thought like that ABC assignment editor during the Miracle on the Hudson. It is something we always need to keep in mind as news people -- if it looks too "real", check, and then check again. When I was a producer on the desk, I always would think "drill" if something seemed "too big". Even on 9/11/01, for a second or two, I wondered if this was some sort of mass exercise.
In my days on the desk, I remember getting familiar with the way the NYPD conducted their drills, the codes they would use, and the language that would come across the radios. CNN was working off radio communications -- which is one of best and worst ways to get information. Yes you'll get to hear what's going on on the ground, but they're talking to each other. Nobody is giving you, the reporter, the information. Overhearing conversations are never the same as taking part in them. So this is raw information. As raw as it gets. You use the information at your own peril. It's not wrong to use the information heard in radio communications, it just should not be used as the sole source of your reporting.
And then there's always the ability to pick up the phone. But today there seems to be no time for verification. You snooze you lose.
What I would like to know is how the media will will cover this story, if at all. Will they simply continue questioning the government about the ridiculous idea of having an exercise on the Potomac on 9/11? Is it possible for once, that news organizations will not see themselves as "protected" against the same type of scrutiny they cast on others?
The government messes up it gets coverage, as it should. Wall Street messes up it gets coverage. The school system messes up it gets coverage. Let's face it -- any individual citizen messes up, anybody on the planet, the media has no compunction reporting the infraction to the world, and in many cases hurting that individual or even destroying that person's life.
I'd like to see the media cover this in the same aggressive manner, camped out outside CNN HQ, demanding answers. But I'm not going to hold my breath that that segment is STILL TO COME on CNN.
Watching the CNN video of the bogus story, and knowing what an embarrassment it is, this one line kept repeating in my head, "In a story you'll only see here on CNN".
CONFLICTING REPORTSCONFLICTING REPORTS