In the last half of 2013 and now this year, it seems to me as if national news sources (networks, newspapers) are rushing to "publish" stories that are incomplete or inaccurate.

Late last year, legendary Country singer Ray Price was hospitalized and then reported dead. It turned out that he was, in fact, alive but gravely ill. Price passed the next day. The original reporter didn't go by what I learned in college: check your sources and use more than one. Price's son, who had no contact with him gave the reporter the news, but the reporter didn't contact Price's wife or anyone directly in contact with Ray Price. Oops! Networks picked up the story, then squashed it.

Then there was the crew list from Asiana Airlines, the plane that crashed in California last year. You remember that, right? The names were obviously fake, but a TV station reported them anyway. (video below).

Now comes a report from the New York Post that the estate of Eric Carr, deceased KISS member, was suing KISS for royalties due them for music Carr wrote. Problem is, the people suing (the suit was real) are "a friend and a relative" of Carr. Carr's actual family and estate, including his sister Loretta, were shocked when they heard the news of the suit and have sent a cease and desist letter to the attorney who filed it. (more on the story here).

Last I checked, only people officially involved in an estate have any say over lawsuits and are the only ones that can legally represent the heirs. To me, this was dangerous journalism. I would've checked with the actually estate lawyer, not the one who filed the case. If the journalist had, she would have found out that it is a bogus suit. Oops!

Can we trust the national news, then? We know our local journalists live up to high standards and don't think about the "24 hour news cycle" like nationals do. That makes a big difference.

I have to ask:

 

 

 

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