Errors and the mine tragedy
By WAYNE EZELL, The Times-Union
It did not take long for critics and hand-wringers to get revved up over how the news media mishandled the reporting of the deaths in the West Virginia mine disaster.
Second guessing started soon after newspapers went to press with "They're Alive!" headlines, only to have surprised readers learn through Wednesday morning reports on radio or TV that 12 were dead.
"One of the most disturbing media performances of this type in recent years," is how Greg Mitchell, editor of the industry publication Editor & Publisher, described it in an online commentary.
The story raised questions about "just how accurate the Times-Union is on anything anymore, especially when they put it on the front page," said Bill Cassity, a frequent critic. Others called to find out how we got it wrong.
Sometimes described as the first draft of history, the work of newspapers is often messy, untidy and sometimes wrong. It will ever be thus.
The Sago incident reminds us again that newspapers have limitations, including that they provide a once-a-day snapshot of evolving events. Sometimes those events change dramatically after the shutter is clicked.
In this case, what was described as a "miscommunication" from rescue workers led family members to jubilantly spread the word that 12 miners were found alive. Amid shouts of jubilation and church bells ringing, no reporter on the ground asked the all-important question, "how do you know that?"
At 11:52 p.m., The Associated Press moved a story telling what "family members" said. That story was in the Times-Union's home edition when the presses started at 12:50 a.m. The story's fifth paragraph said neither mine officials nor the governor's office provided confirmation, however.
At 12:25, the AP moved a story that quoted West Virginia's governor as saying "they told us they have 12 alive," which appeared in later editions of the Times-Union.
Because the Orange Bowl ran late, the newsroom sent new sports pages at 1:22 a.m., after that game ended, to provide results in as many papers as possible.
At 2:57 a.m., the AP moved another story that said "family members report that 11 of the 12 coal miners" had died and one survivor was hospitalized, but news desk editors had left by then. The press run ended 18 minutes later, at 3:15 a.m.
Some East Coast newspapers were able to stop the presses and update the story for the last part of the run. On the West Coast, the Los Angeles Times recalled trucks with 205,000 papers, destroyed those papers and replaced them with the updated story.
Embarrassed editors expressed regret, but few could suggest sound or practical ways the errors could have been avoided. Many newspapers, including this one, provided Thursday morning explanations about the unfortunate timing and sequence of events.
"I'm sure there is plenty of blame to go around," Jane E. Kirtley, professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, told the Baltimore Sun, but given the breaking nature of this story, she doesn't think this would be the greatest journalistic sin of the year.
Even so, lessons were learned. Reporters, sometimes accused of being insensitive and overbearing, will be asking more often of public officials and others, "how do you know that" or "how can we verify this?"
The cruel and dramatic saga of the family members who waited so many anxious hours, then experienced jubilation before being let down in grief, served to focus a harsh light on the media.
Let's hope the work of enterprising journalists will shift more attention from how the media covered what "family members said" to the more important stories about whether the mine should have been operating at all in view of its safety record, why the explosion occurred and the speed and effectiveness of the rescue efforts.
Wayne Ezell, reader advocate, welcomes your comments, complaints, questions and suggestions about news coverage in The Times-Union or on Jacksonville.com. Send e-mail to wayne.ezelljacksonville.com. Phone: (904) 359-4217. Fax: (904) 359-4478. The mailing address is P.O. Box 1949, Jacksonville, FL 32231.