Every day there seems to be a new update in the news relating to the Boston marathon bombings, which rocked the nation almost three weeks ago. But it’s not only the nature of the news itself that has been a cause for headlines. A lot of criticism and attention has been brought to the coverage itself. Although vigilantly reported, new information wasn’t necessarily accurate, damaging the reputations of well-respected news institutions. Here’s a look at a few of the major organizations that reported fallacies during the wake of the marathon tragedy:
Wall Street Journal: Although the paper maintains its position as the largest circulating newspaper in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported that five explosives had been found by police in addition to the two that had already detonated. They were wrong. But it wasn’t the only News Corp-owned paper to make a mistake.
New York Post: The Post was one of the most notably criticized news organizations for errors during their reporting of the Boston marathon explosions. Early on, the paper reported that 12 people had died, when it was three. The paper’s biggest mistake, however, was when it splashed the photo of two men on the front page with the headline “Bag Men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon.” According to the Huffington Post, 17-year-old Salah Barhoun went to the police to clear his name after seeing his picture in connection with the attacks. Compounding the false reporting, the paper and owner Rupert Murdoch has refused to own up to their mistakes. “All NYPost pics were those distributed by FBI. And instantly withdrawn when FBI changed directions,” Post owner Rupert Murdoch tweeted in the paper’s defense.
New York Daily News: The tabloid-style paper caught flack for a picture it ran following the explosions in Boston. Many agree that graphic photos should be published discerningly during stories of a tragic nature, but the Daily News took it too far. The paper ran a picture in the lower corner of its webpage and photo shopped out a wound from a woman’s leg, making it look like it never existed. Critics were pretty unanimous that altering an image in such a way is dishonest and erodes the credibility of the media.
Associated Press: The AP made a few mistakes as well, one of which was a report that a suspect had been arrested when one had not. The storied wire service, known for its quality of news, also reported that Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a second-year medical student, when in fact he was a sophomore majoring in marine biology at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. But unlike the New York Post, the AP took ownership of their mistakes and spoke publicly about them, fostering transparency and reader forgiveness. Jim Romenesko posted memos from AP senior vice president Kathleen Carroll and standards editor Tom Kent following the missteps made by the organization.
CNN: Of all the news organizations that reported inaccurately, CNN has perhaps been the most persecuted. Last Wednesday, CNN correspondent John King reported that an arrest had been made in the bombings, falsely describing the suspect as a “dark skinned individual.” The false report was then picked up by the likes of the Boston Globe, Fox News and the Associated Press. Although the news organization claims the information was acquired from two different and previously reliable sources, the network was greatly criticized. New York Times columnist David Carr noted that despite other mistakes made by the media, it was a serious misstep for a live news channel. “…When big news breaks, we instinctively look to CNN. We want CNN to be good, to be worthy of its moment,” he wrote in a recent column.
Who got it right:
According to the Daily Beast, NBC’s Today Show provided accurate reporting, while Newsday blogger Verne Gay noted that CBS and ABC remained steadfast as well, refusing to report that a suspect had been found before conclusively confirming it. Even Boston Globe coverage was well-received, despite its reporting that a suspect had been found when one hadn’t. And although CNN was widely criticized, the Poynter Institute reported that CNN.com had its third highest day of traffic ever with more than 173 million page views on the Friday following the explosions.
Conclusion:
The 24-hour news cycle and social media have served to make the world more aware and more connected, but news accuracy has taken a hit. The main message that seems to be going out to news organizations in the aftermath of the Boston bombings is to slow down and get it right. Not first. In a recent Google + Hangout, the Poynter Institute brought together various industry professionals to reflect on the different elements of coverage during the explosions in Boston and the manhunt that ensued after. Aaron Brown, a journalism professor at Arizona State University and a former CNN anchor said it best: “Everybody has been wrong at some point on this story, and it damages us – all of us who love our business. We can’t eliminate them all, but we need to be careful that adrenalin does not drive coverage. Adrenalin is not a journalistic tool.”
–Katrina M. Mendolera
