Tampa Bay Times | St. Petersblog | Politico | WTVT
U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young is “gravely ill,” his family said in a statement Thursday. But by that time, several outlets had already reported him dead.
Peter Schorsch appears to be the first person to have reported that Young died. The St. Petersburg, Fla., blogger writes he had the news confirmed by “two members, albeit distant, of the Young family who said they had been contacted with news of Young’s death. When I asked why they were telling me, they said it was because of my ‘fair coverage.'”
Now confirmed with multiple sources, Republican Congressman C.W. "Bill" Young has died at 82.
— Peter Schorsch (@SaintPetersblog) October 17, 2013
Fox News soon reported Young’s death. Dylan Byers caught the video.
Fox apologized for the false report not long afterward, prompting corrections from both Byers and New York Times reporter Brian Stelter, both of whom wondered on Twitter why it was leaving the error hanging out there.
1/2: FYI, here's why I thought Politico was right. @TVEyesInc, an online DVR that reporters use, relies on closed captioning transcripts…
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 17, 2013
2/2: …for text searches of TV newscasts. "Bill Young" search only showed Fox's mistake, not the apology. D'oh. I'll learn from my mistake.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 17, 2013
Luke Russert also tweeted the news, then corrected it.
Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) has died, he was 82
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) October 17, 2013
UPDATE: Young Family stmt: Young's condition turned for the worse over night & he is gravely ill. His doctors say his prognosis is guarded"
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) October 17, 2013
Others apologized for retweeting false reports of Young’s death.
Apologies to the Young family for retweeting report that Rep Young had died. His family says he is "gravely ill"
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) October 17, 2013
Apologies for retweet of report that Rep Bill Young had passed.
Family statement says he is "gravely ill."— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) October 17, 2013
While not exempting Fox News from blame, Tampa Fox station WTVT ran a report headlined “How the Twitterverse got it wrong about Rep. Bill Young.”
Somewhat amazingly, this wasn’t the first time false reports had spread of Young’s death. In 2011, he told the Tampa Tribune he was not dead. “That was strange,” his chief of staff told National Journal.
Friday morning, Schorsch was still atoning on Twitter.
Would be remiss if I did not self-nominate for Loser of the Week. @adamsmithtimes
— Peter Schorsch (@PeterSchorschFL) October 18, 2013
Related: In 2012, Craig Silverman wrote about a series of mistakes that led to news outlets prematurely reporting Joe Paterno’s death. CBS Sports and The Huffington Post were slow to credit Onward State, the source of the initial false report, but CBS Sports was quick to name it after the report proved false. “Glory is overvalued by journalists, and it causes us to make terrible mistakes,” Silverman wrote.
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