I'd just like to say "f*ck you" to CBS News and Rolling Stone for "confirming" Tom Petty's "death."

[Miles Archer]

Rolling Stone has changed their headline from "Tom Petty Dead" to "Tom Petty Hospitalized After Cardiac Arrest."

From what I was able to tell, CBS News was the first to "confirm" his "death," and other news outlets ran with it.

This was NOT a good day for the media.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

1. The LAPD reported erroneous information to CBS.

CBS retracted it when they found out, as did RS.

The LAPD is to blame (and took the blame) here.

[unblock]

3. Yeah, the days of requiring a second source are long gone

[panader0]

17. If you can't believe the cops, who can you believe?

sarcasm

[unblock]

18. Why, tmz, of course!

[Coventina]

2. CBS also made the mistake of believing/citing TMZ

[Act_of_Reparation]

5. Every major outlet reporting his "dead" cited the same TMZ article.

Like everyone woke up this morning and forgot TMZ was a bullshit celebrity gossip column.

[Coventina]

6. Oh no! I was assured that they are a legitimate source!!!

Right here on DU, today!

[Lochloosa]

8. I considered the LAPD a legitimate source. Sorry.

[Coventina]

10. I was referencing TMZ, not the LAPD n/t

[Dr Hobbitstein]

7. CBS was the one to break the "death" news.

TMZ got it right (and they, sadly, usually do). He was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest, and life support was pulled.

[Coventina]

11. Well, for some reason the CBS story I read referenced TMZ as a source.

All hail TMZ, I guess....

[Miles Archer]

14. Nah, TMZ still sucks, BUT...

...they did NOT post anything about his being deceased. They posted about his being taken to the hospital (true) and about being taken off of life support (true) and that was it.

But yeah...TMZ is still TMZ.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

16. TMZ corrected CBS.

The current CBS report references TMZ, which is correct.

ETA: Not defending TMZ, just getting facts straight. TMZ sucks.

[joshcryer]

19. TMZ's track record on this sort of thing has been really good.

TMZ has gotten a reputation for that since Michael Jackson.

I am hoping Tom is able to make a recovery. I know they are testing cooling methods with stroke victims with good success. It could be where the "life support" stuff came from and TMZ's "sources" dropped the ball (I suspect they just get someone to violate HIPPA for an anonymous paycheck).

[Ken Burch]

4. Tom is brain-dead

His body is still breathing, but there's no chance of recovery.

[WinkyDink]

9. He's been taken off life support. His days are numbered.

[Initech]

12. And the Trumplodytes will have a field day with this.

[tymorial]

13. This is ridiculous. No journalistic Integrity whatsoever

It seems like they don't even give a crap if the information is accurate. I mentioned Richard Jewell in another post. The media ruined him and there was no internet news media like today. I used to respect the news media as an honorable institution. It has become completely corrupted by the handful of corporations that own more than 90% of the news service providers.

Today of all days and no attempt at integrity. Sadly there is nothing forcing then to behave honorably. Hell they can outright lie so long as they leave room for doubt in their language.

[pintobean]

15. It's a petty thing to be so pissed about

given the big news of the day.