2005-2014

NEW YORK While national news outlets from The New York Times to CNN were wrongly reporting that 12 trapped miners in West Virginia had been found alive, then later having to admit they had perished, the local Inter-Mountain newspaper of Elkins, W.Va., with the luxury of a later deadline, remained skeptical. The 11,000-circulation afternoon daily -- based just 30 miles from the mining accident...

My local daily newspaper this morning had the story of "12 West Virginia miners found alive," just as did most morning newspapers in the U.S. (To see this morning's U.S. newspaper front pages, hurry over to the Newseum's front-pages feature.) Of course, it didn't turn out that way in the end; the real facts of 12 deaths emerged in the middle of the night, well after most press runs. Now, hindsight...

NEW YORK The fallout from incorrect reports of the West Virginia mining tragedy continued for newspapers nationwide Wednesday morning with some editors taking some blame for initially reporting the wrong story, and others saying they did everything possible to get the correct information out as they knew it. As numerous front pages wrongly reported that 12 of the trapped miners in the incident had...

Last night when Times newspapers were printed, hope and jubilation about 12 trapped West Virginia miners found alive was relayed as the story of the moment; one miner was reportedly found dead as well. Those papers were printed and distributed all over our community. Despite direct quotes from West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin supporting the hoped-for news of the rescues, we know this report was...

When I went to bed last night, the news out of West Virginia was that 12 miners had survived after being trapped by a mine explosion. When the radio alarm went off this morning before dawn, I heard a news announcer saying the miners were dead. Our headline and story on the front page – "Miracles happen in West Virginia" – were dreadfully wrong. Of course I wanted to know how this happened, and I...

This morning some readers of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver received a front-page with the inspiring banner headline, "They're alive!" above a photo of jubilant residents of Tallmansville, W. Va. Of course, we know today that sadly that headline was wrong. Here's what happened. The news of the survival of the miners broke around 10 p.m., in plenty of time for our first metro edition (delivered...

Poynter faculty members Scott Libin, Aly Colón, Bob Steele and Kelly McBride reflect on the issues raised by the mining coverage. Scott Libin, Poynter Leadership Faculty, writes: This case reminds us of a lesson we learned, at least in part, from Hurricane Katrina: Even when plausibly reliably sources such as officials pass along information, journalists should press for key details --...

When newsrooms around the country got word from West Virginia that the trapped miners were believed to be alive late Tuesday and early Wednesday, editors were faced with a big decision with little time to make it. Before learning that all but one of the miners were actually dead, many papers opted for headlines that were big and bold. "THEY'RE ALIVE," proclaimed the St. Petersburg Times, which is...

Most readers of The Kansas City Star saw an erroneous headline Wednesday on Page A-1: "12 miners alive after 41 hours." As we now know, only one worker survived a West Virginia mining accident. The Star prints in the middle of the night, enabling carriers to deliver papers by early morning. I heard from several upset readers Wednesday, most of whom felt The Star rushed the good news to print in a...

Maybe the reporters on the ground in West Virginia were just plain tired. Or maybe they themselves were swept up in the euphoria and wanted to believe. Otherwise, it's hard to explain how the erroneous news of the survival and rescue of 12 of the 13 miners caught underneath the ground in Sago, West Virginia made it to the front pages of our nation's papers this morning. A close reading of the...