Last night I went to bed after listening to television news reports of a miracle in West Virginia. No matter which of the 24-hour news channels I turned to, there was grandstanding. Rita Cosby on MSNBC kept talking about her mascara smearing because she was in tears. Geraldo Rivera on Fox News could be heard screaming out to the family members in joy about how great the news was, chasing down people to get their immediate, joyous reactions. Other nameless reporters spent hours in typical fashion waxing poetic and miraculous about small-town cohesiveness and the spirit of America, etc.
Here was the early story:
http://www.nbc5.com/news/5832803/detail.html
Quote:
'They're Alive'
12 Miners Found Alive; 1 Dead
POSTED: 2:26 am CST January 4, 2006
UPDATED: 8:47 am CST January 4, 2006
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. --
This story has been updated to reflect that the initial reports of 12 survivors were inaccurate. Click here for that updated story.
The word that keeps coming up is "miracles."
There's jubilation in Tallmansville, W.Va., after 12 of 13 miners caught in an explosion in a coal mine were found alive.
Bells at a nearby church where relatives had been gathering rang as family members ran out screaming in joy. Some yelled: "They're alive!"
"Miracles happen in West Virginia and today we got one," said Charlotte Weaver, the wife of one of the trapped men.
Weaver said she was afraid "a lot of times," but she never gave up.
There were hugs and tears among the crowd outside the Sago Baptist Church. A group of celebrants began singing the hymn "How Great Thou Art."
'Believe In Miracles'
Earlier Tuesday evening, rescue crews found an unidentified body about 700 feet from a mine car that was used by the missing workers.
A Red Cross volunteer who was inside the Sago Baptist Church, located just across from the mine, said family members were "passing out and crying" after West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin announced that rescue workers had found the body 11,200 feet into the Sago mine.
Manchin held out hope Tuesday night, telling reporters "the miracle is still alive" and urging Americans to "believe in miracles."
AP Image
Friends and family of miners trapped underground wait for news outside a church in Tallmansville, W. Va.
Manchin said the miners had an "average of 20-plus years" experience, so they would have taken shelter in any safe spot to await rescue.
Bush: Americans Are Praying
President George W. Bush said Tuesday that people all across America were praying for the miners.
The president told reporters he called Gov. Manchin to say the federal government stands ready to help the rescue effort in any way possible.
Bush praised what he called the "outpouring of compassion" West Virginians have shown the miners' families.
"May God bless those who are trapped below the Earth," Bush said.
Mine Cited 208 Times Last Year
The mine where the workers were trapped was cited 208 times for alleged safety violations in 2005. It had just 68 citations in 2004.
Federal regulators' allegations against the Sago mine included failure to dilute coal dust, which can lead to explosions, and failure to properly operate and maintain machinery. According to the U.S. Labor Department, 96 of the citations were considered "significant and substantial" by inspectors.
ICG officials say the Labor Department could have closed the mine if it had been deemed unsafe.
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Then, I wake up this morning a little late, turn on the news, only to see this:
http://www.nbc5.com/news/5812063/det...72&dppid=65192
Quote:
Devastating Twist: 12 Miners Dead
Families Celebrate For Hours Before Learning Of Deaths
UPDATED: 11:08 am CST January 4, 2006
TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. -- As the only survivor remains hospitalized, the last of a dozen bodies has been pulled from the Sago coal mine in West Virginia.
The bodies were found more than 42 hours after an explosion trapped the miners.
There was a tragic miscommunication around midnight, when word spread that one miner had died and the dozen others were alive. Three hours later, the families were told only one man survived.
The bodies were found together behind a curtain-like barrier they set up to keep out carbon monoxide gas. It doesn't appear the explosion killed them.
The lone survivor is identified as Randal McCloy, a 27-year-old resident of Simpson, W.Va.. His condition is listed as critical. McCloy is in critical condition in a Morgantown, West Va., hospital, where he's under sedation and on a ventilator.
A doctor said McCloy was unconscious but moaning when he was taken from the Upshur County mine to Ruby Memorial Hospital. He said McCloy is responding to stimuli.
McCloy's father-in-law said he was "still devastated" when he found out McCloy was the only survivor, saying his heart goes out to the other families.
Ben Hatfield, CEO of Sago Mine owner International Coal Group, told reporters Wednesday morning that initial reports from a rescue team indicated there were "multiple survivors." He said that turned out to wrong, blaming a "miscommunication."
Hatfield said the rumor of survivors "spread like wildfire" but noted that mine officials had never confirmed it.
Relatives had broken out in screams of joy when word of a rescue came from West Virginia's governor. That was replaced by abject sorrow and anger.
The son of one of the 12 miners found dead said there was "no apology" and "no nothing" when officials told them there relatives were dead.
The rescuers found a barricade and determined that the miners had donned their breathing masks. It's not clear how long they lived.
The company news conference announcing the miscommunication didn't occur until after 3 a.m. -- more than three hours after families had started celebrating the misconception that their loved ones were alive.
Witnesses said after people were given the bad news about the others, one relative became enraged and lunged at an official. The incident happened at a Baptist church where relatives had gathered. Family members had to wrestle the aggrieved man to the ground.
Federal officials are expressing sorrow over the deaths and are promising a full investigation.
Before the incorrect announcement of the 12 survivors, rescuers had found one body Tuesday
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So, how did this happen? How did the media get this so wrong? Naturally, the media is taking absolutely no blame, instead stating that it was a miscommunication from the rescue workers. The 24-hour news channels seem to have an ongoing malfunction of reporting stories long before confirmation is made. In the race to one-up each other, rumors are often reported as fact with the small disclaimer: Unconfirmed Reports Indicate....
What angers me the most about this was watching the genuine joy on the faces of the family members after being led in what could be described as a revival by the visiting television reporters only to be informed later that all but one of the miners did not survive. Many of these families were told that the miners survived by overzealous reporters anxious to get tear-filled interviews. They wasted no time having their "Miracle in the Mountain State" graphics with snazzy sound-effects greeting us after each commercial break.
Watching Fox News earlier, one of the flock of reporters stated that now was not the time to place blame on why the miners were reported alive.
Will the media ever take responsibility for blunders like this? I don't know how much time I've spent watching television news reporters backpedal on stories they've been reporting wrong all along.