For news outlets today it is not about the facts, it is not about researching, it is not about ethics and it is not about quality writing. Unfortunately, news today is about who gets the facts first. It is about who can get the information first and tweet it to thousands of followers before any other news source. Since the emerging trend of social media outlets, it is not even about news outlets reporting correctly anymore as seen by Twitter posts displayed last night, January 21. At 8:45 p.m. on January 21, 2012 Onward State tweeted to 19,613 followers that former head football coach Joe Paterno had passed away. In a matter of seconds CBS sports sighted the tweet and made a similar one mentioning Joe Paterno’s death. In under one minute “Joepa” became the number one worldwide trending topic on Twitter. This is the world of news we live in today. What used to be called the "Golden Hour" during a crisis has been trickled down to a few golden minutes, maybe seconds to fix the problem and release a statement. After thousands of Twitter and Facebook users began releasing this news to their friends and followers, from what they assumed was a credible news source, Jay Paterno tweeted the reports were incorrect and that Joe Paterno was "continuing to fight." After learning that Joe Paterno had passed away and then discovering the reports I personally felt premature in my tweets that night. I began receiving text messages to my phone asking where I got my source from that Joe Pa had passed away, where was there an article citing this and had I heard from a Paterno source? Of course I hadn't. I was relaying news I saw on Twitter to my followers. Meanwhile, only about five minutes had passed since the first tweet about this topic was released.
A few minutes later the second worldwide trending topic became "CBSSportsSAYs" followed by ridiculous tweets such as "Tim Tebow lost his virginity," "Michael Jackson is white" and "the colts are in the Super Bowl." This journalistic mistake is a perfect example of how social media can break or make a credible news source. It is a perfect example of how news outlets do not check their sources anymore because they want to be the first to deliver the news. However, it is a huge consequence for the news outlet as seen by last night's blunder. In the midst of social media users' increasing confusion Devon Edwards, the managing editor of Onward State, released a statement of apology and resignation as of immediately. The letter from the managing editor is posted below:
A letter from the Managing Editor of Onward State:
Earlier this evening, Onward State reported that Joe Paterno had passed away. However, the mountain of evidence stacked opposite that report is too much to ignore. At this time, I would like to issue a retraction of our earlier tweets.
I never, in a million years, would have thought that Onward State would be cited by the national media, and today, I sincerely wish it never had been. To all those who read and passed along our reports, I sincerely apologize for misleading you. To the Penn State community and to the Paterno family most of all, I could not be more sorry for the emotional anguish I am sure we caused. There are no excuses for what we did. We all make mistakes, but it’s impossible to brush off one of this magnitude. Right now, we deserve all of the criticism headed our way.
In this day and age, getting it first often conflicts with getting it right, but our intention was never to fall into that chasm. All I can do now is promise that in the future, we will exercise caution, restraint, and humility.
I can only hope and pray that the outstanding work our writers and photographers do on a day-to-day basis is not overshadowed by the events of tonight. I understand that our reputation is in serious question, but I hope you will continue to stand by us as we do everything in our power to make amends.
To begin that process, I will be stepping down from my post as Managing Editor, effective immediately. I take full responsibility for the events that transpired tonight, and for the black mark upon the organization that I have caused.
I ask not for your forgiveness, but for your understanding. I am so very, very, sorry, and we at Onward State continue to pray for Coach Paterno.
Sincerely,
Devon Edwards
While Devon Edwards was busy writing a letter of apology to all of Onward State's followers and the Paterno family, CBS Sports failed to release any type of apology or acknowledgement of the mistake. Due to the escalation of social media today it is easier to lose the publics trust than to gain it. Unfortunately, one false tweet and all credibility is depleted as seen by the mistakes of last night's posts. This is what social media has transformed the news outlets into today.
The Joe Paterno twitter debacle was awful! It is uncanny to me that journalists can report such incorrect facts, and now with social media it happens more than you think. It seems that just because it is only 140 characters the authors feel there is no way they can make a mistake so they fail to fact check and proof read. It seems like social media is making people lazy. I know that, that day I tweeted nothing about Joe, until it was an official release from the Paterno family. For some reason I just didn’t trust all the speculation. Some of my friends were tweeting things that made them look stupid, things that they were assuming were true and were not, things that they were just retweeting without a thought. This situation should make people look more closely at how they are using social media, and be more careful with what they are saying.
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