Who was the first to say that all the miners made it out? was it Faux?

[DanCa]

There should be some accountability here.

[Bluebear]

1. I think the Governor...."It's a miracle!"

[leftstreet]

2. I first heard it from Anderson Cooper. n/t

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

4. And he heard from someone who ran up to him while he was on camera ...

I saw the footage . It was a man - I don't know if it was relative or a fellow miner but he ran up to Anderson while he was on air and told him that they found 12 of the miners alive in the mine .

[leftstreet]

5. You're right. I remember that guy!

Don't know where he got his info. I remember he was crying.

[shraby]

3. From what I can gather, the mine owners and the governor

told them there were 12 survivors, then a little while ago the mine owners told them they hadn't survived. People are in shock about it.

[Contrary1]

6. So very sad...

I wonder if in all the excitement, the first to say just got it backwards?

1 survivor, 12 dead; instead of 1 dead, 12 survivors.

[deadparrot]

11. Apparently the miscommunication came

when the rescuers reported that they had found twelve individuals, and were in the process of checking vital signs to see which were alive. It apparently came out to those above ground as "twelve survivors."

[VolcanoJen]

14. And then the media sent out the "Breaking News"

... without verifying it whatsoever. Anderson Cooper couldn't get that guy to say how he knew there were "12 alive" and who he heard it from, but they still went with the story... 12 survivors. All the media outlets did.

Heartbreaking.

[LynnTheDem]

7. Yahoo now; "Families Say 11 of 12 W.Va. Miners Dead"

Family members report that 11 of the 12 coal miners who were initially thought to have survived an explosion in a coal mine have died.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060104/ap_on_re_us/mine_explosion

[MiniMe]

8. The command center got it wrong

Per press conference

[DanCa]

9. Conspiracy theory - was it an attempt to get the news media off Abramoff

Seriously do you think thats why the media hounds were so anxious to cover a miracle? To get the attention of the gop corruption scandal.

[Contrary1]

12. No, not this time...

It would only be a few hours until the truth came out. Abramoff will be news for quite some time.

[Old and In the Way]

19. I wondered that too.......gawd, I hate being such a cynical prick.

But this seems like something that could get the whole media frenzy trying to pin the blame. I doubt anyone would use this tragedy for political deflection purposes, but I admit that I thought it.

[VolcanoJen]

10. Anderson Cooper had Breaking News, and talked it up later

He repeated the initial breaking news report, where a local resident runs up and breathlessly tells Cooper, "12 alive! They've got 12 alive!"

Cooper then had the CNN technician tell him what time it was when CNN had the "first breaking news." Then he started talking about the church bells ringing...

He must feel damned horrible about that now. I know I do.

ETA: I also remember inmediately after that, Dr. Sanjay Gupta was expressing a little skepticism. He said something about talking to Rick Sanchez (is he a physician, too?) about the carbon monoxide levels, and what he'd expect from a patient. Both agreed that if the patient just knew his name, it would be encouraging. There were then reports about ambulances, and that's when Gupta became skeptical. Anderson Cooper kept saying the miners were supposed to return to the church...

[jsmithrn45]

13. VolcanoJen

I know, this is all really sad. To the loved ones of the miners, this has got to be horrific to go through.
On a lighter side, Jen, I wanted to tell you that you are truly photogenic! You take a great pic.
Brenda

[VolcanoJen]

34. An incredibly sad night

It's really tragic, and to think that a lot of people across the country went to bed happy and will wake up to learn the truth.

Thanks for the compliment, by the way. :-)

Welcome to DU!

[deadparrot]

15. I'm ready to smack the collective shit out of the MSM on this one.

For being reckless and irresponsible with their communication of information, and now for sticking their cameras and microphones in the faces of grieving families. I'm watching CNN, and they've been split-screening the press conference with clips of families that are extremely upset and probably not aware that their private emotions are being broadcast nationwide. They've stopped the split-screen now, but if they start up again, I'll probably :nuke:

[VolcanoJen]

18. Now they're split-screening the ambulances...

... that never arrived at the church, as Anderson Cooper kept anticipating.

It's ghoulish and pretty unapologetic at this moment. I'll bet the producers are crapping themselves right now, wondering how they're going to roll out of this press conference.

[MiniMe]

16. Apparently the families were told the miners would be coming to the church

Heard Rita on MSNBC getting that from a family member. Somebody told them to wait at the church and the miners would be brought to them. Family members were getting info first and sharing it with the media.

[VolcanoJen]

20. Oh holy crap, please tell me Rita isn't in West Virginia

If she isn't, she will be. She'll be milking this for days, and she'll be utterly unapologetic about it, too.

I'm seriously sick to my stomach tonight.

[MiniMe]

21. Of course she is

I turned off MSNBC when she started interviewing family. Just couldn't stomach it.

[VolcanoJen]

23. No way could I take her voice. It turns my stomach.

She's such a ghoul, you know? Chasing bodies for a living. It's disturbing.

Anderson Cooper is on CNN, pretty much passing the buck and talking about how the families are upset about "being lied to." He doesn't yet seem ready to acknowledge his and his network's complicity in that, if you ask me.

[MiniMe]

26. I really don't think that the media is responsible for this one.....

for a change. They didn't know until after the church bells were ringing. But even the mine co pres said that the error came from a miscommunication at the command center.

And I agree, Rita is ghoul. When she just kept asking people how they feel about the news that 12 were alive I just had to change the channel. How does she think they felt? Idiot.

[VolcanoJen]

29. The media should have vetted the reports

They're usually a little more cautious.

[MiniMe]

31. Agreed, but the media was not the one that told the families.

They got their information FROM the families. The question is who told the families?

[EFerrari]

32. And of course, Rita turns around and suggests the company

will have a lot of explaining to do, as if SHE is one of the victims.

I turned to MSNBC explicitly to see her do that and she didn't disappoint.

[VolcanoJen]

37. Check out this initial report on CNN's site

Now, I don't see anything in this article that sources how they knew the miners were alive. Shouldn't this report be considered "unconfirmed"? I think the media really dropped the homework ball here, and got a little caught up, and it's unfortunate, and they really should be held accountable for some bad reporting, in my opinion.

girl gone mad posted this in another thread:

'Believe in miracles': 12 miners found alive

Excerpt:

Men had been trapped 36 hours; one did not survive

Wednesday, January 4, 2006; Posted: 2:19 a.m. EST (07:19 GMT)

TALLMANSVILLE, West Virginia (CNN) -- Twelve of 13 miners who had been trapped underground for more than 36 hours are alive and were being brought out early Wednesday for treatment, officials and family members said.

Friends and relatives erupted in cheers and the town's church bells began ringing as word of the 12 miners' rescue became known.

"Believe in miracles," said West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, who had expressed optimism throughout the ordeal.

"Twelve miners alive," said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia. She said she did not know where the 12 were found or their condition.

The mood, she said, was of "jubilation, incredible happiness, unspeakable joy." (Watch the congresswoman describe the community's jubilation -- 2:26)

[EFerrari]

43. They dropped it bigtime. Maybe they have disaster

fatigue. It's been one after another for five years.

[leftchick]

48. gawd Jen, ya made me choke on my coffee!

LOL! "chasing bodies for a living. It's disturbing"! You have that right! That woman is a fucking freak with the whiskey/cigarette/phlegm filled voicebox. :puke:

[lesab]

22. survivors

I have a theory that perhaps they did find the miners alive but were ill prepared to keep them alive in their fragile states of being and they deceased AFTER they were found. It makes so much more sense than what they are trying to say about communication. What a load of crap....trained rescuers would not report people alive if they weren't. Should I wear a tin foil hat?????

[sam sarrha]

17. Faux was'nt saying anything .. even though everyone else was

[johnfunk]

24. Jeebus, Anderson's saying the mine co. knew 20 minutes after the MSM F-Ued

that the miners were dead. Doesn't take the blame off CNN and MSNBC for not vetting it.

[lesab]

25. what a load of crap

The families were told that the miners would be brought to them at the church. How could they give the families that information if they thought they were dead? TIN FOIL!

[Beausoir]

28. That's the one that got me....just rumors and gossip reported as fact.

ANY fucking simpleton knows that they would NEVER let any survivors walk into that church before going to the hospital.

[VolcanoJen]

33. Sanjay Gupta slowly tried to explain that to...

... an exhuberant Anderson Cooper during the live broadcast, too. Cooper kept saying, "What could be the delay? Why aren't they at the church yet? What could be the reason?"

[VolcanoJen]

27. Exactly

Yet Cooper seems unapologetic. Why couldn't CNN have run with "Unconfirmed reports..." They didn't seem to bother at the time.

[johnfunk]

30. CNN's wonder boy Cooper: just another incompetent celebrity bobblehead

He's lost a major chunk of credibility, and it's going to take a lot for him to get it back. A bad time for him to do it, too, when Conservative News Network is already in the crapper.

Oh, well, at least we've still got Olbermann...

[Appalachian_American]

41. I could have chosen any of the Anderson slams,

but I'll go with this one. I've been watching his reporting off and on and bystanders(the woman who lived nearby that he has been talking to, I believe) ran up and told him that the 12 were alive. He's doing live tv and I would imagine that to ignore the reactions around him would be next to impossible. He reported that the EMS people in the ambulances were celebrating. He heard the jubilant screams from the mine entrance. It seems that he observed a lot of celebrating, while being told by someone that they were alive. I heard him say that they were trying to confirm when he was speaking with a Red Cross worker that had been inside the church.

It's sad that it came out this way, but can't we cut Anderson and the others some slack.

[preciousdove]

47. As FU as things are perhaps it was to discredit Cooper

because he did so much damage to them in Katrina.

I can say this because Zuckerman made a phone call from his limozine in front of a Manhattan hotel in November 2000 and made 400 Lyme Disease Advocate protesters hooked up to IV's in wheel chairs dissapear from all news sources. He was attending the event. There were lots of local news filming.

Everything these guys do has been in a movie. They probably remembered Circus and decided that would be a good deversion and then looked to see who they could destroy with it.

I know, its late but hey it could happen in this upside down era.

[RagingInMiami]

35. I wonder how many newspapers went to print with the original story

It broke around the time when the papers hit the presses.

[VolcanoJen]

38. Looks like the NY Times has it on their front page

[johnfunk]

39. OOPS!

[VolcanoJen]

40. Sanjay Gupta's showing today's actual USA Today

Complete with the "12 Alive" headline.

Damn.

[RagingInMiami]

45. Damn

Chalk up another "scoop" for the NY Times. Maybe they should have held on to this story for a year.

[MiniMe]

36. Governor's Aide saying that they were hearing the "12 alive" story....

at the site, but they couldn't confirm it.

[izzie]

42. I do not think it came from the people running things

I read cell phone people got it out before it was checked. Course if it has moved to wards the fed. govt. you know you have to wait for the real story. With all the college right wing people running things nothing works any more.

[EFerrari]

44. We source things ten times better here at DU

than these folks do on a good night.

[CornField]

46. I was watching Tucker on MSNBC when Rita broke in

She said, "We have breaking news. At this time AP and NBC are reporting..." Although she didn't say exclusive, I was under the impression they were breaking the story for the first time. I fell asleep shortly after that and woke up to this. My thoughts to the families.