January 5, 2006 9:25 AM
One Denver newspaper told its readers it made a mistake; the other didn't
It was interesting looking at the two Denver dailies to see how differently they handled the fact that they both produced some papers with an erroneous headline about the West Virginia mine disaster.
It should be clear from this blog what the Rocky has done.
The Post actually published four banner headlines for Wednesday's paper.
They were:
"Hopes fading at West Virginia Mine." This went to the outlying areas of the state.
Then they published two metro editions before stopping the presses.
Those headlines were "12 of 13 miners found alive" and "Jubilation at West Virginia mine."
Then they stopped the presses and changed the headline to: "Just one survivor at mine."
Today the paper didn't publish a correction. Didn't mention its errors anywhere. And in the one place where it would have been obvious to mention its own problems, a story headlined "Shoddy reporting core of "miracle" travesty" by Joanne Ostrow, the paper's TV critic, there was no mention that the Post was one of the papers that had committed the "travesty."
There is a difference between the two papers.
Postscript: In its Sunday newspaper, the Post on its editorial page in an editor's note at the bottom of an Ed Quillen column headlined "The curse of the news cycle" said: "Early editions of Wednesday's Post carried the headline mentioned in the column. Later editions reported 12 miners had been found alive, while final editions reported only one survivor."
I still haven't seen a correction in its news pages, which the Post says operate independently of its editorial pages.
January 5, 2006
12:53 PM
Vicki Johnston writes:
Mr. Temple,
I have been a subscriber to your paper since I moved to Denver in 1979. The last several years your paper has become less and less interesting. You don't have engaging investigative reporting like you used to. I never learn anything by reading your paper anymore. In fact, there is so little to read, that I scan it in a couple of minutes. Lazy Sunday mornings with a coffee and an hour or so of the Sunday paper are gone. Your weekend papers are comprised mostly of old, re-hashed syndicated stuff.
When you endorsed Bush, that bigot Tom Tancredo and all the Republican candidates in the last election, I almost canceled my subscription. If it were not for the Comics, the rare artistic photo by Ken Papleo and some silly hope that you might wake up and remember what "Journalism" is supposed to be, I would cancel. Your News doesn't have much "news" in it anymore. You have wimped out. You have sided with the Lemmings - the Corporate Republican, "Bottom Line is all that Matters", Boring Crowd that doesn't care about compassion, creativity or honesty.
I was not surprised at all to see that you had the headline saying the miners were still alive. It's par for the course for you. You follow the "popular" crowd. You are afraid to speak the truth. Shame on you. We deserve better!
Vicki Johnston
January 5, 2006
1:13 PM
Keri writes:
This message is for Vicki, who posted a ranting jumble of liberal bile 3 times. Take a deep breath, inhale, exhale. There, now isn't that better?
The Rocky may have made a mistake in printing the erroneous outcome of the miner's fate (which I received here in Castle Rock, talk about emotional exhaustion), however I commend the editor for owning up the the mistake. And it still is the better Denver paper.
Now go take your medication and rest for a while.
January 5, 2006
1:53 PM
alek writes:
Did the Rocky Mountain News screw up big-time with their headlines ... along with pretty much every newspaper East of 'em on similar/earlier deadlines - YEP.
Did the Rocky at least acknowledge the mistake with a prominent mention not only here, but also on page A2 in the print edition - YEP.
I don't want to excuse the Rocky's mistake ... but even worse is not correcting your mistake, especially when you don't have deadline pressure.
So I agree with John's point - there is a difference.
January 6, 2006
10:27 AM
Lori writes:
I think this whole conversation is pretty silly. I love the Rocky Mountain News and all, but did we forget (ALREADY), those families who thought for 3 whole hours that their loved ones were alive. The news comes in as it happens. And we were all informed that they were alive, of course the media is going to follow the crowd, that's what they do. Do we really need to congratulate those who corrected their mistakes, on something so little? Do we really have to badmouth others, when there are so many more important things to concern ourselves with? I understand that someone should apologize, but I don't think that should be the big topic of discussion. Our hearts, prayers, and thoughts should be on those families suffering. Thank you.
January 6, 2006
11:09 AM
Oh Please writes:
Lacking any new blog entries, as usual, I can only use this forum to commend the Rocky for again bastardizing the news. This Friday morning, I find a front page headline on the ramblings of an increasingly senile fundamentalist preacher concerning the medical condition of a head of state. But nowhere in the entire paper do I find a mention of the cowardly recess appointments of nearly 20 cronies and incompetents by George W. Bush, as he continues to attempt to avoid any of the systems of checks and balances intended to control our leaders. Mr. Temple, you are indeed a pathetic excuse for an editor.
January 7, 2006
11:36 AM
Ray writes:
The U.S. news media is disgustingly lazy. They have turned news events into reality shows in order to get viewers/readers. Why was the tragic death of 12 miners in West Virginia front-page news in Colorado anyway? It deserved at best a short article on the inside of the paper: "Tragic Accident at West Virginia Mine Kills 12".
The TV network news spent 10-15 minutes on this story, yet less than a minute on the death of 11 American soldiers in Iraq on Thursday. The Rocky Mountain News had that story buried on page 25A of its Saturday edition. Why don't the Rocky Mountain News and the networks make that front-page news?
I guess that's not a story that the American people want to hear anymore.
January 7, 2006
2:14 PM
BC writes:
Both papers are pathetic. The only reason why I bother to peruse either paper is the fact I can do it for free, and the television news in Denver is the absolute worst in America for a city of this size. I refuse to watch the jackasses at KCNC, KMGH, or KUSA. The Post and The News are both fueled by sensationalism, and they both lack journalistic credibility at times. But they are still better than the alternatives for local news. At least I can just read it here without having to see and listen to horrible anchors and worse reporters.
January 7, 2006
4:48 PM
David Neuman writes:
Again, this morning, I was reminded how unhandy your Saturday broadsheet is. I do hope you consider a tabloid Saturday edition when the new presses, the Post will use, are installed at your printing facility.
January 7, 2006
9:40 PM
Robert Anderson writes:
right on to David Neuman
I quit the RMN because of the Sat. paper
I had been reading it for 40 years
January 7, 2006
10:14 PM
Pat Giuffra writes:
Goodness, this entry from John Temple sure brought on a lot of comment. I did respect that he promptly took care of the erroneous story on the miners in Virginia. Although I am critical often of some of the Rocky journalists whose reporting does not prove true more often than not after the facts play out over time, I feel it surpasses the Denver Post. As a former Bay Arean, I also travel all over the country and I find most of the T.V. anchorpeople in S. F., New York, etc. pretty hokey actually. Pat Giuffra, Denver now.