Sadly, as everyone now knows, only one survived. I can't wait to see how they explain publishing this information without vetting it completely. I can't begin to comprehend the pain the families went through during such short lived and cruel, joy and hope.
The source is irrelevant. Even the BBC had it wrong as I went to bed last night (after remotely helping out some friends with their varied technical problems). As sad as this news is, I think that the rapid-fire nature of our news media in this day and age make such egregious errors even worse. This story spread as the various outlets rushed to beat their competitors. In the end, I think blame can be spread all around--the mining company and the news outlets are equal to blame for such a reversal.
Nonetheless, one only looks at the infamous "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline to be reminded of how long this problem has been with us. Now we have technology to speed the delivery of such errors.
I was more appalled at the fact that the story was still around at 9:45, than I was at the fact that it happened at all - where, as you say, plenty of blame to go around.
The source is irrelevant. Even the BBC had it wrong as I went to bed last night (after remotely helping out some friends with their varied technical problems). As sad as this news is, I think that the rapid-fire nature of our news media in this day and age make such egregious errors even worse. This story spread as the various outlets rushed to beat their competitors. In the end, I think blame can be spread all around--the mining company and the news outlets are equal to blame for such a reversal.
Nonetheless, one only looks at the infamous "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline to be reminded of how long this problem has been with us. Now we have technology to speed the delivery of such errors.