Rita - Just Get the Story Right!

Scanning the news channels last night I was bombarded with the sickening fact that our media is morally bankrupt. A terrible thing happened this week in West Virginia. A group of coal miners were trapped and killed when an explosion rocked the mine that they were working in. Rescuers worked night and day for more than 48 hours to try and reach the trapped men. But in the end only one survived.

There are many legitimate angles to this news story: The condition of the mine and its many safety violations, the fact that this was a non-union mine which may have led to the unsafe working conditions, the rescue attempt and the bungled communication about potential survivors. All of these facts deserve responsible media attention.

But what did our media giants do?

CNN rushed their new star anchor - Anderson Cooper to the scene. So did MSNBC with Rita Cosby, because to these news outlets it is more important to showcase their rising “talent” than to accurately report the story. I realize that this point has been made many times, but this was the most graphic example that I have seen so far.

Rita Cosby last night must have interjected “We were here for all of it” more than a dozen times in the twenty or so minutes that I could stomach her program. Like somehow Rita breathlessly at the location made a significant difference to the dead mine workers or their rejoicing, then grieving and now outraged families. Having Rita on the scene sure didn’t help the accuracy of the reporting. In the end all it did was add to the families grief and humiliation as Rita and her crew replayed the images over and over and over. It was a disgrace.

So as the nation mourns the fallen mine workers ……..and our fallen soldiers in Iraq…….and the dead from Katrina. Save a little mourning for the state of the news media in this country.

Hat tip to Bryan for the CJR article link