The Lost Art of Journalism

by Dale Nixon

Broadcast news journalism has become the equivalent of instant coffee.

Equal parts watery and vapid, yet also murky and aromatic. Smelling of real ingredients, but seldom tasting the same. Style over substance.

The recent tragic events (plural, as it turned out) at Virginia Tech University have revealed a startling subplot; the journalistic quality of on-air reporting is at an all-time low. In the rush to be first to get the story out and pump the ratings up, factual reporting has been tossed from the proverbial window in favor of hyperbole, innuendo and just plain old bad, unchecked and unconfirmed intelligence.

Broadcast journalism in the United States works without a net, figuratively speaking while the real reporters slog away in relative obscurity.

The (inter)net may be providing the impetus to report stories both in a premature and incorrect fashion. The three-headed hydra of broadcast applies to not only television and cable reports, but also radio and online news outlets of affiliates.

Thus multiple sources (live broadcast, radio, websites) may be synchronized to simultaneously transmit the same misinformation, all sourced from the same whispered rumors like the children's party game of telephone. What starts whispered in someone's ear at the scene becomes very different when bounced up to the satellite links.

One reportedly dead in Virginia Tech shooting
POSTED: 10:37 a.m. EDT, April 16, 2007

(CNN) -- One person was killed and one person was wounded in a shooting on the Virginia Tech university campus Monday, The Associated Press reported, quoting a state government official.

Students were instructed to stay indoors and away from windows after a gunman reportedly fired shots at a residential dormitory, police at the university said.

"A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows," read a warning from the university, located in Blacksburg, Virginia

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

The first missive is relatively incomplete, but properly attributes the report to an anonymous official. This is a clue that it has been approved by an editor. The attribution is a loophole, but often necessary in the moments of a developing story. Of course the story is on CNN.com, but is in fact a straight Associated Press feed.

The second article provides a good comparison at the skill level of "on the scene" reporting. It immediately declines to quantify figures or speculation in favor of the facts; multiple shootings had occurred and information would be updated as it becomes available. Unfortunately broadcast media chose to ignore this functional style, as fear (of a viewer potentially changing channels) requires that anchor never admit that the information they are presenting is incomplete. Newspapers have no such fear, other than a mistake is there in black and white for either eternity or recycling, whichever comes first.

Multiple shootings confirmed at Virginia Tech

The Roanoke Times
Updated: 10:17 a.m.

Multiple shootings have occurred at Virginia Tech this morning involving multiple victims. The second shooting happened in Norris Hall, the engineering building near Burruss Hall. Police are on the scene and rescue workers have set up a temporary treatment facility. The campus is on lock down. All classes and activities have been cancelled for the day.

Montgomery County public schools are all on lock down. In Blacksburg, no one is being allowed in any school building without approval by the school administrators, said Superintendent Tiffany Anderson.

The university has posted a notice of the incident on its Web site and is urging the university community to be cautious and contact Virginia Tech police at 231-6411 if they notice anything suspicious. No further details were available. The Roanoke Times will update with new information as it become available.

Contrast that with the next update from MSNBC, who were definitely the first in the "Barry Bonds going for the all-time record" numbers-crunching death toll race. There is no disclaimer, MSNBC is smug and confident that they have accurate information. Of course, this is the channel that once erroneously reported that President Bush had declared that troops in Iraq were "expendable".

12:28
MSNBC reports 22 dead.


Now left to their own devices, and ostensibly without the services of the trusty AP editor to fact and source check, CNN jumps headlong into the fray. Can anyone smell the Nielsen boxes overheating?

12:41:21 pm CNN is reporting two separate shootings, two separate shooters, one of whom is dead while the other is in custody.

Of course the promotional value of multiple shooters would be high, especially if one was alive and in custody. But much to CNN's chagrin, that information turned out to be inaccurate. In other words, they reported wrong information.

MSNBC's previous source becomes clear a few minutes later - an anonymous law enforcement source, probably a dispatcher or maybe a scanner transmission, since all the big-time officers were probably still hard at work at the scene. Unfortunately the disclaimer that it was still a developing story was still avoided.


MSNBC - University Advisory:
Shootings close campus; gunman deceased

04/16/2007, Updated 12:40 p.m.

Two shootings on campus today have left 22 confirmed dead, including students.


1:02:28 pm Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:

AT LEAST 25 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED IN SHOOTINGS ON VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY CAMPUS. THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE.

ABC jumps in to trump the claim of competing organizations and is the first to ratchet up the death toll. The competition for numbers would continue unabated through the afternoon until the official statement was released.

1:16:46 pm CNN reports that the campus police have determined there are 22 dead, and between 17-21 wounded.

Oops, might be time to get a better source, CNN, as ABC is now almost 15 minutes ahead of you and using better sources than a rent-a-cop.


1:37:33 pm By DAVID SCHOETZ, NED POTTER, and the staff of ABC News

Apr. 16, 2007— At least 29 people are dead in what may be the biggest mass killing on a college campus in American history — and the death toll may rise.

Nice job for ABC. Story has bylined authors and a disclaimer, as well as the most accurate total to that point in the coverage.

3:01:45 pm NPR just switched over to special coverage.

AP is reporting 31 + 1(gunman).

Finally, by 6:00 p.m., CNN has it all sorted it out. Of course, the official statement had been made.

CNN, posted at 6:06 pm:

At least 33 people, including a gunman, were killed Monday during shootings in a dorm and a classroom building at Virginia Tech, university officials said.

According to the Tyndall Report, a media tracking blog, 89% of the networks' news features were devoted to the story, with cursory coverage given to the storms in the northeast.

So while the media frenzy continued well into the evening hours, the evidence disappeared. Websites were updated, information was sorted and sourced and the "two gunmen" theory disappeared into the networks' DVD hard drives. Spiffy graphics were developed and somber music affixed to related items of interest.

Million-dollar anchorbabies descended on the scene to fan the interview frenzy and affix their perfectly crowned smiles to the tragedy.

And somewhere nearby in a real newsroom with worn indoor/outdoor carpeting and a squeaky desk chair, a real reporter no doubt sipped some cold instant coffee.

The exotic lattes, it seems, remain the nectar of the sharply-attired media elite who commute to breaking news scenes in executive jets.