BBC runs
an article on how the media brought hope then despair to relatives of trapped miners in West Virginia, US.
Jeff Jarvis is quoted as saying "The next time I hear someone being haughty about professional news vs citizens' news, I'll remind them of the West Virginia tragedy, where news travelled ahead of the facts, where everyone was horribly wrong". I second that and feel sad for the families who have been badly let-down by a media race to sensationalism.
1 comment:
I agree toally. Here's part of my take from Scatterbox at www.stevensilvers.com ...
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Trade magazine Editor & Publisher called it “one of the most disturbing and disgraceful media performances of this type in recent years.”...
There is no question that International Coal Group violated every standard of crises management. The company’s lack of preparedness and incompetence in managing communications both within and outside the unfolding tragedy will unfortunately be studied by PR and management executives for decades to come.
But much of that lesson will focus on the increasingly understood possibility that competing news interests will run with miraculous but unconfirmed headlines like a raging herd of snorting, blind buffalo.
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