Over at Politico, Michael Calderone has a good summary of the tumult of events that led Matt Drudge, on the anniversary of 9/11, to link an article heded “BANG, BANG, BANG.” The bottom line of which seems to be that CNN, as a news organization, could probably benefit from a remedial course in “Journalism 101: Getting It First, but First Getting It Right.”
The Kicker — September 11, 2009 01:59 PM
CNN and the Case of the Missing Phone Call
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In CNN's defense, they say they contacted the Coast Guard info clearinghouse and got a "we have no information," which is PIO-speak for "something's going down but I don't know or can't tell you."
Sure, go ahead and have a drill on the Potomac, across from the Pentagon, where the President is speaking, next to the bridge he'll be crossing, on the morning of 9/11... but for Pete's sake, tell someone about it ahead of time!
#1 Posted by Aaron, CJR on Fri 11 Sep 2009 at 03:34 PM
That's a fairly stunning case of organisational myopia there. All those people with this on their calendar working towards the day, and nobody thought to ask, "What?"
Off topic: is "heded" a typo, or is it another manifestation of that insane idea to replace "lead" with a fantasy replacement word?
The problem this sort of fix fixes is better fixed by other means. Reading comprehension, proofreading, etc. IMO. At least, don't do it in public, please.
#2 Posted by S. Keeling, CJR on Sun 13 Sep 2009 at 06:22 PM