When I read TV station KTVU’s apology for misidentifying the pilots in the Asiana Airlines crash, one sentence in particular stood out to me.
“We heard this person verify the information without questioning who they were and then rushed the names on our noon newscast.”
The rush to report information without properly verifying it is an old and ongoing issue in the news business. Shortly after accepting a TV reporting job in Phoenix, I felt pressure to report information while covering a high-profile, breaking story. I did not report the information, but competitors did. The information was wrong.
Numerous times, I’ve watched TV anchors, under instructions to “stretch” and provide continuous live coverage, speculate about key information that turned out false.
The Tucson shooting and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on healthcare offer other disturbing examples of rushing to judgement and getting facts wrong.
I don’t know exactly what series of events occurred behind the scenes at KTVU that led to reporting fake names. But I wish more media outlets would issue hard and fast policies on verifying facts or sources. I’d like to see more newsrooms hold regular staff meetings to discuss procedures. When under pressure, do these newsrooms follow their procedures or rationalize breaking them? Sometimes, these unfortunate situations are a fluke, but sometimes newsrooms include an atmosphere vulnerable to big mistakes during breaking news. And while members of the media love to discuss their peers, has KTVU’s example inspired outlets to review their own newsroom policies?
And what is the payoff to rushing information on air? Will a station’s ratings suddenly spike because the public realizes that media outlet reported the information first? During big stories, can the public often even identify which outlet in town reported certain facts first?
The risk-reward factor is out of whack. But I might as well be talking to four, blank walls. This will happen again … and again.