By now it's common knowledge that a terrible, tragic mistake was made in the reporting of 13 miners trapped in a West Virginia coal mine. For a few hours the world believed that all but one of the men had made it out alive. Because of production deadlines, many papers reported this on their front page this morning, even though they already knew it wasn't true.
It appears -- and we stress appears because it will take time to sort this mess out-- that the mining company played a role in spreading the incorrect information. Yet the media also has to accept its part for spreading what appears to have been an unsubstantiated rumor, and for not performing the necessary due diligence to get the truth. In the end it seems that the families and the press believed what they wanted to believe. It's hard to imagine both readily accepting a rumor that all but one of the men had died. They would have been skeptical; they would have demanded confirmation. No one wanted that to be true. But a rumor with the almost best case scenario? That you can run with.
Hope becomes intoxicating at a time when the stakes are so high. These high stakes have now manifested themselves in the consequences of the mistake. An error that turns hope and jubilation into loss and anger is all the more powerful.
Only one man rose from the dark hole cut into the side of a mountain; his colleagues all perished. That loss is the true tragedy. Sadly, however, it has been eclipsed by the mistakes made in the reporting and publicizing of this heartbreak. This in turn compounds the grief of the families and their community.
One of the best media-focused stories written so far is by Greg Mitchell over at Editor & Publisher. His story includes an insightful time line that shows the progression of AP headlines from the first skeptical report of hope to the final, conclusive stories of error and condemnation. A current AP story offers up a bit of a time line as well:
At about 8 p.m. Tuesday, coal company officials announced that one miner's body had been found near the area where the explosion occurred. However, there was hope for the remaining 12 miners because their track-mounted car was found undamaged deeper in the mine.
Then, a seeming miracle: Shortly before midnight, word rushed up the hollow that 12 miners had been found alive.
Family and friends clapped in the early morning chill as a single ambulance drove away, presumably with one of the miners safely in the back.
Mitchell does his own reconstruction:
An Associated Press dispatch first carried the news at 11:59 pm: "Twelve miners caught in an explosion in a coal mine were found alive Tuesday night, more than 41 hours after the blast, family members said. Bells at a church where relatives had been gathering rang out as family members ran out screaming in jubilation." But many newspapers, and all of cable TV news, reported the rescue as fact, not merely based on family claims.
Apparently, it wasn't until about three hours later that the correct and tragic information was confirmed. That's a terribly long gap, and that's one of the reasons why people have a right to be incensed at the mining company for not standing up and offering total confirmation or denial, and at the media for not insisting on an official confirmation. UPDATE: Read this interesting text of a press conference with the head of the company that owns the mine.
As Mitchell writes:
It took three hours for the coal company to correct the reports. It is unclear why the media carried the news without proper sourcing. Some reports claim the early reports spread via cell phones and when loved ones started celebrating most in the media simply joined in.
In reality, rescuers had only confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs. But what leaked out to anxious family members was that 12 were found alive.
A company spokesman, sounding like another Michael Brown, explained, ''Let's put this in perspective. Who do I tell not to celebrate? I didn't know if there were 12 or 1 [who were alive].''
There are a ton of other stories out there for you to read and it will likely be a few days before a clearer picture emerges. At this point, however, the time line seems to be:
- Rescuers find 12 miners
- Families hear/spread rumor that all 12 are alive
- Rumors spread among those gathered and reach the media
- AP publishes a somewhat skeptical report
- Other press outlets drop the skepticism and run with the good news whole hog
- Meanwhile, the mining company does nothing (and will continue to do nothing for 3 hours) to get the truth out
- Story and hope spreads around the world until roughly 3 a.m.
- The truth comes and all hell breaks loose
We'll continue to track updates and adjust our post accordingly.
