Just how bad has the media become (Mine disaster coverage)

[MindMatter]

This morning, we are hearing all sorts of storied about the anguish of the family members who, for three hours, were led to believe their loved ones had survived.

And there are all sorts of stories about how the miscommunication began.

But why are we not hearing anything about the central story here? These CNN/MSNBC/FOX/(and probably many others) bastards ran wall-to-wall coverage of this miraculous rescue for hours. Where responsible journalists would have said "We are hearing rumors that the 12 remaining miners have been found alive." and stopped there, these guys built up a whole fantasy story out of thin air.

They had "experts" reporting on the (likely) medical condition of the "survivors" and the treatment they were surely receiving right now.

They had reporters chasing after every ambulance and flashing light, reporting this as all part of the jubilant rescue.

They had mining "experts" describing in vivid detain how it was that the miners were (allegedly) able to save themselves.

They described in microscopic precision the whole process whereby the miners would be checked out by medical teams and then brought to the church for a glorious reuniting with their families. They marveled that the miners were in such good shape that they would be able to go straight to the church instead of hospital.

I noticed that the guy leading the reports from CNN bragged about how he had done equally accurate reporting from Baghdad in the early days of the invasion.

Indeed. Now I remember why I haven't watched any of these crap new networks for 5 years.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. It is an embarrasment

and shameful. How much of what they tell us is unsubstantiated?

[Dorian Gray]

6. Exactly...

It's really going to open the eyes of many about what a farce our media actually is.

[no_more_rhyming]

26. Mental anguish $$$$$$$$$

the msm needs to be accountable and realize some of the consequences of their actions. Like yelling FIRE!

[bpilgrim]

42. it is a planned distraction from the real story - over 200 safety violatio

the M$M has been this bad and worse since i've been pay'n close attention (5 years)

peace

[sweetm2475]

49. WOW that's a stretch.....But believable nonetheless.

It's sad when you can't tell anymore with any certainty what's real or fake, believable or not, planned or spontaneous. I'm running our of tin foil here. Somebody HELP!!!!!:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

[RazzleDazzle]

50. I think you're way wrong -- the media aren't that culpable here

I happened to be up and watching when the "good news" happened and got reported. There stood Anderson Cooper, talking on his mike, and behind him the church where everyone was congregated, and a commotion broke out. Cooper walked over and was asking, on camera, what was the commotion. The news was: they were all alive.

THERE WAS NO ONE DURING THAT or the following period that countered this "good news." This "good news" was reported TO THE FAMILIES by otherwise responsible people, people who were in a position to know. It wasn't at all clear that this was unreliable information or information in serious need to double-checking.

But even if they'd tried to double-check, who would they have contacted? The company itself withheld the bad news, we've learned tonight, for several hours.

The most cautious and conservative treatment I've seen by any of the press was one newspaper that reported they were alive, "Families Say" -- entirely appropriate, but frankly after having SEEN things unfold while watching last night, I'd have considered that overkill in the caution department.

[cookiebird]

52. a WY coal miner's grandaughter

after the first reports of the gasses and the CO, it was pretty bad. The "jubilation" I heard in this afternoon's press conference got the better of the CEO and I'm not sure he had his head in the business. It seems that other people did...perhaps. We'll see. Prayers all around.:cry:

[leveymg]

2. With this, we have all the less time to cover Abramoff.

They would prefer there was none, but it would be too conspicuous by its absence. So, we have this, instead.

What a perfect illustration of how the corporate-owned media operates. It's too fascinating to turn off, altogether.:eyes:

[dennisnyc]

5. i can't say for sure, i can never watch the whole of a show but

i think last night O'Reilly managed to cover everything BUT abramoff. He even invented some idiocy about Murtha disrespecting our troops. Are his tv ratings tanking as much as his radio ratings?

He spent most of the show on the mine...

[BlueStateGirl]

3. Exactly. I watched it last night. They ran with it. They never confirmed

it.
They are as complicit as anyone.

[gratuitous]

4. Yep, and Kelly Lynch went down with guns blazing

News reporters have to fill air time. Start talking about something, anything. Tell us everything you know about it in 30 seconds. Now go another 30 seconds. Now fill five minutes. If you're not babbling nonsense and repeating yourself by the end of the first minute, that would be extraordinary. Three hours is ample time for the "two guys" theory of going out on a limb from Car Talk, which says that one person will go out on a limb only so far. But two people will continually raise the ante and go much farther out on a limb than either one of them would ever go alone.

[wtmusic]

13. If they had had to drag it out for another hour

Kelly would be describing how the miners were probably at home relaxing and playing checkers.

[underpants]

7. The voice of management doesn't want you to hear the base issue

which is not dying when you go to work.

[Strawman]

20. Yep. The "episodic frame" is what they give you

No background on the issue of workplace safety. Nope. According to the MSM frame, it's an isolated instance. A tragic freak accident.

[TNOE]

8. Agree

& Welcome to DU from a Northern Ky. Girl! :hi:

[pansypoo53219]

9. i don't want to be mean

but i would LIKE to think this would FORCE them to look at mine safety issues. especially re bush.

[Bumblebee]

10. I was happy that the miners were allegedly alive but could not watch

either Anderson Cooper or Rita Cosby (of course) and their "journalistic" teams interviewing everyone in sight, some having no connection to the families. My husband wanted to see some of it, though, so I had little choice for about 30 minutes, until the re-run of Jon Stewart. And the storyline was always the same -- "How do you feel?... did you lose hope?... do you believe in miracles now?" The latter "storyline" turned my stomach in particular -- all about them praying, and then the church bells, and people streaming out with "Praise the Lord" -- all this was very touching and understandable as the families' reaction to the false but happy rumor at the time but as the angle for the breathless reports utterly shameless, exploitative and stupid. And they were hyperventilating like that for hours -- with no confirmed reports. This morning, when I woke up to the grim news, I felt utterly enraged by the coverage. It was bad enough when we thought it was based on accurate information -- now it borders on criminal sensationalism and callousness.

PS Forgot to mention that at one "triumphant" point, and out of anyone to interview, CNN turned cameras on themselves, the great team that they are who are tirelessly bringing us this miraculous story, and showed a throng of idly standing "reporters," their CNN van, and a sleeping dog (since Anderson Cooper likes the creatures so much). The reporter at one point was actually rudely pushing all on her way aside so that we can see their stupid van. They waxed poetics about all that -- it was just revolting.

[driver8]

11. I have said it before...the so called "journalists" in this country are

lazy. Unless a story drops in their laps, they don't pursue it. Look at how long it took them to finally wake up to election fraud?? We have talking about that issue for years.

Amazing...simply amazing. This is despicable.

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. Do we know what happened with this MISINFORMATION making it to MSM?

What happened? WHY did the media report that the miners were alive? WHO told them they were alive? How did this misinformation get started? Have we heard any explanation yet? This is shameful. Just one more reason to not watch the MSM.

[SmokingJacket]

15. There'd better be an investigation.

The families should sue, frankly.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. I agree. This is unforgivable.

I would LOVE to know the chain of events that lead to the MSM report that they were alive.

[MindMatter]

22. NPR reported this AM

that there was a communication from the rescus team that said "We've found 12 individuals." Somebody overheard this and assumed that meant 12 LIVE individuals, and immediately got on their cell phone with the families.

It is entirely possible, if not likely, that the company had no idea what kind of outrageous reporting was going on for the next hour or two. After all, the rescus team was not sitting on their butts watching these idiots on the tube, thank goodness.

[tishaLA]

24. the company did, however, know

the that false information was out and they withheld the information from the families for 2 1/2 hours. Hatfield said so in his press conference last night.

[tishaLA]

19. A family member TOLD ANderson Cooper about it

Live. On the air. CNN "broke" the story based on the report of a family member. They'd heard the cheering in the church and the bells ringing and a family member told Mr. Cooper the "good news." Hell, family members later told Mr. Cooper that a representative of the mining company told them that the miners would be coming to the church to meet with their loved ones!

They should have used more caution, granted, but when you have the images CNN had and many family members were saying what they were saying, it was hard to ignore the story.

[SmokingJacket]

23. Yes, they should have used more caution.

Of course, I have no idea what happened, but reporting an uncomfirmed story is wrong.

[tishaLA]

25. But the story was "confirmed"

by the family members--many of them. But what they heard was erroneous and it spread like wildfire.

The reporters on the ground knew that the mining company was giving the families information first throughout the ordeal; the mining company only briefed reporters after they briefed the families.

[Norquist Nemesis]

34. Exactly! The company excluded the reporters

giving the families the news first. They said it was their policy to go to the families first. So, when CNN got the info from the families (and I heard AC making efforts to confirm by asking precisely who told them the info), they would say "they" told us.

I'm not blaming the families. But I do take issue with the way that the company handled the communications to the media. Not that they should have been "first"...but they certainly should have told the media info immediately after telling the families. Also make it crystal clear that unless status info came from the company, then in no uncertain terms was info confirmed and able to be considered reliable vs. rumor.

One thing that was funny was that a family member "chased a reporter through the woods" behind the church. Apparently the reporter was trying to sneak in. I had images of Geraldo (and later Rita Crosby) fleeing while screaming at operatic decibels. :rofl:

[MindMatter]

38. Obviously the information did not come from the "company"

I don't believe there is a single person on the entire planet (possibly excluding Rove and Cheney) who would have knowingly given the family bad information. And I don't believe there is any possible scenario where the "Company" would have held a briefing with the families and had the information 180 degrees wrong.

What actually happened, obviously, is that some INDIVIDUALS who were on the scene, who might have been company employees, heard a communication, interpreted it incorrectly, blabbed it on their cell phones, and did not feel any accountability to correct that. I don't believe there is any way these could have been official statements made by people responsible for communicating the status.

[raccoon]

27. I hope the families do sue. And win the suit. nt

[Clark2008]

28. Sue for what?

From what I'm hearing, the media were told by a credible source - the GOVERNOR'S OFFICE - that the miners were still alive.

They can't go down in the mines and check the bodies, themselves, so they take the world of a credible source.

I'm sorry, but I don't see this as a media problem other than the sickening 24-hour coverage and asking of dumb "How do you feel" questions that TV newsies have been asking for 45 years.

[bpilgrim]

33. it is an excellent distraction from the REAL story - > over 200 safety

violations and why the company decided to keep the truth secret for 3 hours.

peace

[tishaLA]

35. ding ding ding ding ding

We have the winning post.

The story is not the media. It is underregulation of the mining industry, a non-union mine, hundreds of safety violations. The families want to talk about it! They told Mr. Cooper and anyone else who would listen last night...but that story have gone into the ether.

[bpilgrim]

36. we are all being played as FOOLS!

peace

[Carni]

54. CNN claims they confirmed with two ICG people

Granted that is CNN's story so who knows...then I heard earlier today that some people at that church claim that a red cross worker was the one to bustle in there and say "12 alive" etc.

I have no idea if it was the media, the coal company, the red cross or Rove on a cell phone somewhere trying to distract from abramoff (that was primarily a joke) but the whole thing was truly disgusting.

We seem to go from one disturbing event to another in this country now...I should just cancel cable and stop corrupting myself.

[SmokingJacket]

14. Anderson Cooper just blew all the credibility he got from Katrina. nt

[Skidmore]

16. I think this debacle this morning early was the media's fault.

Rushing to get the exclusive got them in trouble. Of course, the company shares the blame in that those fools let it sit out there for 3 hours before correcting the story. None of those reporting this though bothered to check the facts before airing them.

[wicket]

18. Well said, MM

A very sad situation all around. I don't watch that crap anymore either- don't want to give them the ratings.

[Beausoir]

21. Church basement gossip now counts as a reliable source.

One shudders to think how much lower the American media can possibly sink after last night.

CNN's Randy Kaye, formerly from WCCO in Minneapolis, was on the air, stating AS FACT that the surviving 12 miners would forgo medical attention and walk right into the Sego Baptist Church to be reunited with loved one.
At that point, I knew all reasonable attempts at fact-checking had flown out the window. I KNEW she was just parroting the hopes and wild speculations of the family members.

Gerlado Rivera was in full physical contact mode. Hugging family members jubilantly, calling them "Brother", sharing in their joy. Why wasn't he spending that time tracking down ONE FUCKING OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION?

Anderson Cooper..don't even get me started. He's so busy riding his wave of popularity after his dramatic performance down in New Orleans that he completely FORGOT to check any facts. His idea of a credible source is a person running up to him in a muddy field and touting some rumor he/she had heard from her second cousin's wife's best friend who knows someone in the church.

What these blow-dried media whores did to that community last night should be against the law.

There is something called the public trust. You just can't do this to people. God damn them all to hell.

[BurtWorm]

29. I didn't get sucked into this story, but I'm betting your description is

right on the money. A new era of faith-based journalism is at hand.

By the way, what happened to the brilliant people's advocates the media became during Katrina? :eyes:

[Beelzebud]

30. UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE

I'm sorry. Thats about the only reaction I have to this.

Last night they were saying 12 survived. This morning in my newspaper the frontpage headline was about 12 miners being found alive.

OUR MEDIA IS IN SHAMBLES

They barely reported on the Abramhoff guilty plea, and instead turned this mining tragedy into a media feeding frenzy, and THEN GOT THE FUCKING FACTS WRONG.

We all know how much they get facts wrong, but this is a pretty HUGE fucking blunder on their part.

Folks. With our entire national media in this state, we are on our own.

[KansDem]

51. "They barely reported on the Abramhoff guilty plea..."

Not wanting to digress too much from the thread subject, but I agree with your assessment of the media. This morning I listened to NPR news at 8:30 am (eastern), and was shocked (not really) that the news DID NOT say ANYTHING about the Abramhoff guilty plea of yesterday.

[Blue Belle]

31. This 24 hour "Speculation" cycle kills me....

Jon Stewart had a great clip the other day ripping on the Cable News speculation. I think it was when the media was transfixed on the Jet Blue Airliner with landing gear problems... but the clip mainly consisted of newscasters pulling inane supposive factoids out of the air, but throwing out the disclaimer of "but I don't know... this is all speculation". I equate a news caster in this sort of situation with a sports caster trying to fill space in a lackluster game... they don't have a story yet, so they try to squeeze every ounce of drama out of a situation to create excitement even if they have to make it up as they go. It's pathetic infotainment under the guise of "journalism"... and I'm sure Edward R. Murrow is spinning in his grave somewhere. These news people don't care about the damage they cause after they've stirred up all the false drama. They just care about being on camera when the big story unfolds and being able to say that they reported on it - even if they make half of it up in front of your eyes. They set the tone of the events because they set the cameras up and shoot what they feel is important. Why else would we see more footage of looters in NOLA than the lack of onsight FEMA supply trucks and services?? Why else would you see month long coverage of a girl missing in Aruba - chuck full of legal and forensic speculation - but nothing on the United States torture goulogs (the only speculation on torture they spin is what they've been given from this administration as the reasoning for it). This tragic event in Tenessee just shows how very little truth there is in journalism anymore... and the real problems that lead to this event such as the lack of labor unions and poor working conditions will never be reported on - not unless it comes out while someone is crying on camera.

[MindMatter]

37. That was hilarious

I am hoping that he finds a way to really hammer the press again on this one. He must be very careful because of the immense human tragedy at the center of this story, but it is PRECISELY that tragedy that makes a Stewart assault necessary.

In case any Daily Show writers are trolling here :), here's an idea.

Stewart starts out his program Monday with a grim-faced coverage of the tragedy, and begins to talk about how the media covered it, all with serious deadpan tone. But before he can get through that, he is interrupted by a "Breaking News" cut-in that has his whole staff acting out the part of MSM fools using some fictitious event.

I think they could rally get the point across without being disrespectful to the great personal loss that happened in West Virginia.

[AngryAmish]

32. Bush has taught the fat, ugly Amerikkkans to believe lies

Bush is Hitler

[Bake]

39. Rita Cosby GUSHING about "it's a miracle."

Positively gushing.

I would like to have been able to believe in a miracle. But during all the "miracle" talk, I kept saying to my lovely wife, "This just MIGHT be premature ... maybe they ought to hold off talking about miracles until we see them come OUT of that mine ..." Then I went to bed. And got up this morning to the headline: "Tragedy at the Mine."

And none of them - NOT ONE - were talking about how wrong they had been. Cosby/MSNBC was showing raw, unedited footage the night before of families rejoicing. And Rita was gushing on and on, asking interviewees "just how miraculous IS THIS??"

I guess it wasn't a miracle.

Bake

[TallahasseeGrannie]

48. No, it wasn't a miracle

but you know what would BE a miracle? If Rita took her Marlboros and crawled back under her rock.

She is an embarassment and her performance last night was an embarassment.

[toymachines]

40. They no longer report

They guesstimate.

[corkhead]

41. another "kid stuck in a well" story. As sad as it was, being voyeurs

to the tragedy of others without covering what is important about it to all of us makes it the same as "rubber necking" a messy wreck on the highway. This was another distraction to take the place of what is really news that impacts our daily lives.

[spanone]

43. News is now 'Entertainment'. Speculative news.

[XemaSab]

44. Not to be a total bitch

But I don't understand how this story was worth the amount of news coverage it got at all.

It's a major tragedy for the mine, the families, and the town, but worth 24-7 nationwide news coverage?

Perhaps one or two reporters there to report on the outcome, followed by an expose a week later on mining safety and the violations that this company is accused of having would be sufficient, but turning the private tragedy of these families into a live circus? And exposing the rest of the country to said circus?

I feel bad for the miners and their families, but how is this national news?

New Orleans is in ruins, Afghanistan is in ruins, Pakistan is in ruins, Iraq is in ruins, the constitution is in shreds, congress is facing a major scandal, the Sierra Club is being treated as a terrorist organization, OSAMA IS STILL OUT THERE, and this is what the media chooses to talk about?

They look more like asses for focusing on this in the first place than for getting it wrong.

[bpilgrim]

46. this is about workers rights in this nation as well

don't ask for whom the bell tolls, and all...

peace

[XemaSab]

47. I agree

but if you're going to talk about that, you (meaning the media) shouldn't do it half-assed, and half-assed is what passes for news these days. That's why I'm saying that they should report on the violations, etc when they've had a week or so to get the facts straight and find some guests who know what they're talking about.

[The Straight Story]

53. It's called human interest and giving people what they want as well

People care about things like this and news orgs know it. If cnn decided to blow it off after a few minutes people who want to know and keep in the loop would be switching to a channel that was covering it.

Probably a lot of folks, blue and white collar, felt for the workers. They cared about them and hoped for the best. They felt part of the ordeal.

You can push the news you want people hear across the cable wires all day long - but that does not mean they will watch it.

Come to think of it - how many americans turn to DU for news? And one wonders what they would find here if they did.....

Give people what they want and they will pay attention and maybe even vote for you, give them what you think they should have to have and they may well turn you off...

[leftstreet]

45. Did they follow up on the guy who tried to punch a mining official?

Now THERE'S a story.