W.V. miner's story

RE: W.V. miner's story

It is indeed a sad day here in WV and across the nation. ;(
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

It is truly sad that this misinformation was told to those families.

I am not sure if we can fully blame the media on this though as the information had to have started somewhere before it got to them. I am not defending the media as I to have very little trust/faith in their reporting, but I think the mine company has more to do with the misinformation on this one.
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

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defending the media as I to have very little trust/faith in their reporting, but I think the mine company has more to do with the misinformation on this one.
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I agree that the info the media had came from *somewhere*, but the way they went about reporting it was as if the messiah had been found.

They are ambulance chasers...if there is a heart string to be pulled, the media will yank it hard. Little did they know, they pulled in the wrong direction.

I blame them for going national, and having broadcast the deepest of emotion of the families on live television, based on what they "heard". There was NO doubt in their mind that they had heard the facts, not a 'rumor'. But you can bet they were right there with the cameras in people's faces when the story went the other way...heartless....



lesson learned...by all.
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

Our local newspaper headlines scream "Twelve Alive!" or something like that. ::nono::

The 'media' has simply lost any credibility. In their clamour to be the first electronic, broadcast, print... source of information, no one bothers to check facts... just repeat what you've heard. More akin to poker table gossip than fact finding and reporting.

I watched and listened to most of this tragedy unfold shaking my head as most of what was being told, even in print, was so mis-represented and sometimes just plain wrong.

IMHO, the final late night 'miscommunication' scenario displayed a keen lack of leadership and control. Knowing the families were literally a few hundred feet from the scene, let alone all the media camped out, the command center needed leadership with the chain of communication from the inside to the outside. One man, one voice, one... 'leader'.

Sadly now, the focus will shift from the tragedy to the finger pointing. Already from day one, the media has held up the mine's 'safety record' as a beacon of blame. The federal government bureaucracy 'MSHA' even jumped on board as you could visit their own website from day one and they had links with the 'Mine ID Number' so you could easily search their records and see the number of citations issued in the past as if to criminalize the company from the onset. I'm already nauseous from the previews of this on air, on screen, online... and in print. ::grrr::

Meanwhile, God bless the families of those who perished.
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

I'm not sure why or how CNN is to blame for this mis-innformation. Rumors of all kinds always spread like wildfire in these situations. The latest info seems to be that a Red Cross worker, or someone wearing a Red Cross jacket, came into the church and shouted the news that 12 were found alive. The Red Cross has stated that they are trying to determine who exactly it was that did this. Same thing happened on 9/11 when rumors spread rampant about survivors being found.
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

the media's job is to bring the public "news"...not rumors, not heresay, not teasers. News...truth...facts...

I blame the media, not for the outcome, but for the poor display of 'communication'.

This country has learned to glue their eyes and ears on the media to find out all about the tragedies and triumphs of mankind. Lets face it, the media is simply feeding the hungry public who crave the emotional roller-coaster of horror and tragedy, be it miraculous tales of survival to morbid tales of death and destruction. The media is well-compensated, and rewarded for "being there".

Since the media is given special permission to be "behind the scenes" and in return they are given the responsibility to report facts, I expect to hear the truth.

I dont care if a Man dressed like Jesus carrying a walking stick walked into the church and promised salvation to all of the miners...the media needs to be absolutely sure they tell us the truth.

A perfect example of this is when the press/media is not allowed into a courtroom. The public feed off the trials, and the press are given the burden of reporting the truth. if they screw it up, they can 'blow' the whole case. This is also why finding an unprejudiced jury can be so difficult because so many people "heard this and that" on the news, predetermining the outcome of the case WAY before weighing the evidence/facts.

I blame the media. Period. if you arent 100% sure, beyond any doubt, dont tell the world.

All the reporters had to say was(and they have before) "we are getting reports of, but nothing has been confirmed that_________ has happened. The townspeople seem to all believe it to be true, but there is no official word yet."

if the media is in doubt, they need to tell us that...the reporters had no doubt in their mind that what they heard was the truth...obviously, they either heard wrong, or were too busy taking advantage of the 'scoop' as it happened....ratings....ratings ratings ratings...

of course, the media has to have someone to feed, so I too am guilty for even tuning in to the broadcasts.


JP...this hit a little too close to home for you. I am sure you've had enough already. sorry pal.
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

Craig,

Well I agree they should not report unless they have all the facts, I disagree with blaming the media in this case. It wasnt the media that came in and told these families that the miners were found alive. They reported what was told to the families. It wasnt until hours later when a rep. from the mining company came in and stated the truth.

IMO the mining company or whoever was in charge of the rescue should have stepped in right way and told the families that nothing has been comfirmed about the number of miners they found alive or dead. They waited for hours after before going to the families to break the news.
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

This kind of reporting blunder has occurred many times before. I am surprised that in this age of communication, no one verified the facts before taking it to press. It is a terrible emotional roller coaster that the families of the victims had to endure because of this reporting mistake.

For this to happen decades ago was due to limited communication abilities. Now it is inexcusable.

http://www.lowlights-now.com/ipw-web/portal/73/images/dewey-wins.jpg

Alexander
Board of Directors
Lincolns of Distinction
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

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Craig,Well I agree they should not report unless they have all the facts, I disagree with blaming the media in this case. It wasnt the media that came in and told these families that the miners were found alive. They reported what was told to the families.
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I am mostly talking about the reporting to the world, not the families. The families, for the most part, were sort of responsible for finding out themselves, as they were the ones telling the media what they heard.

not once during the reports did I, 3000 miles away, hear a reporter say anything remotely close to:

"we are speculating. we have no proof yet. There is going to be a press conference at ________, and until that time, we are only reporting what we see and hear"

nope...they blatantly came out and said "it's a miracle, world...these men are all alive, except for one".

they even interviewed the lady who's relative was to believed to be the sole fatality. She said she was sad, but very happy for the families.

anyway John...I stand by my case. I am 3000 miles away. The only link I have to this story, is the media. They fed me false information. They did so in a confident manner. Call it a blunder, or call it a mistake. either way, they were wrong.

will the media learn to curb their enthusiasm for 'the scoop'? nope. They'll continue to chase ambulences as long as there are rubber neckers waiting to see the aftermath.

I will say this though...if the media ever sets up camp in my neighborhood, I'm going to have a field day with their incompetence.



in conclusion...I made my point. you know where I stand. it isnt a matter of my being right or wrong...its all opinion. I have mine. But I feel angry...mostly because the townspeople were completely stripped bare to the soul...they were given the best news they would ever hope to hear...their prayers were answered, as miraculous as they seemed...then, in an instant, their world was stripped bare of any hope of joy and promise....I am angry, and the only direction i can point that anger at, is at the media...because, not only were they the messenger, but they came bearing great news, only to realize...they were holding the scroll upside down.

an example:


"hear ye, hear ye...I am only the messenger, oh great one. Do not blame me if the message is filled with discontent. I only read to you what I see on this scroll. The scroll has been sealed by the emporer of Langsly, and has not been opened since his quil has laid hand and ink upon. The letter, if you will

"....on this day in 2006, the emperor of Langsly has declared the release of your children. they will not be put to death. they will be released and returned to you with absolutely no fear of execution"

the King was over-come with joy, and began a massive celebration, and ordered the release of all slaves. the land was filled with dance and song. The city became a virtual atmosphere of content, and love. No man, woman or child could be seen without a smile, or tear of joy.

But then, the messenger spoke up

"forgive me, oh great one...I was holding the letter upside down. it appears your family has been executed, and we will be attacking your land in...{gulp} 3 minutes".

how do you think the king would feel? Would he NOT blame the messenger?
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

The first report I read late last night stated that the people in the church where rejoicing, the church bell was ringing as people came out and exclaimed it is a miracle; the miners were found alive. So for that AP report the media reported what the saw and heard at the curch.
One report said the misinformation came from someone over hearing a cell phone conversation. What I don’t understand is I heard this misinformation went around for 4 hours.
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

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... I am surprised that in this age of communication, no one verified the facts before taking it to press.
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That is where the mistake was made IMHO. But it goes back to command and control. After command and control comes responsible journalism. In this case unfortunately we received neither.

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
...It wasnt until hours later when a rep. from the mining company came in and stated the truth.

IMO the mining company or whoever was in charge of the rescue should have stepped in right way and told the families that nothing has been comfirmed about the number of miners they found alive or dead. They waited for hours after before going to the families to break the news.[/div]

All day yesterday there were reports of high carbon monoxide levels being discovered deep into the mine. When I retired for the night late yesterday, one unidentified body had reported to have been found with no evidence of the whereabouts of the others. When I awoke this morning the first news I heard was of the "sole survivor". Then the din of reports of the 'miscommunication'.

I just listened to a news conference held where the CEO of the company answered a bevy of questions as to the dispersal of information. Apparently there were some plans for the rescue workers to communicate "in code" using radios back to a 'fresh air command center' located inside the mine. The rescuers had found the group and were actually recuscitating one victim and were checking for vital signs of the others when the first communication was made to the command center. Somehow this was misconstrued as "twelve alive" when contacting the outside. Within minutes, the command center knew conflicting inside information from the information now outside. Waiting on verification of the grim actual death toll, no one stepped forward with information to counter the wildfire rumors now outside. At a minimum, regardless of good intentions, they were negligent.

Already, today's talk shows highlight the company's safety record as aforementioned in an attempt to find blame. Even so far as to give allegations that it's just the tip of the iceberg, and much, much more unsafe practices go on daily without scrutiny. The US coal mining industry has got to be the most heavily regulated industry on the planet. It amazes me at times how some of these companies survive the daily onslaught of regulations.

My occupation serves the coal mining industry, so I get a unique perspective from the outside and sometimes from the inside. Yes, being a miner is a dangerous profession, no doubt about it. The average Joe however has no idea the number of regulations the average miner encounters on a daily basis. The 'numbers' being cited bear no more correlation to safety of a mine operation on any given day any better than the SAT score of the man on the street to his actual IQ. When you or I get a citation from the authorities, it can vary from parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant to reckless driving through traffic at a high rate of speed. A citation from MSHA can be as trivial as a parking ticket or as serious as a speeding ticket. Trust me, there are lot of parking citations, so don't let that cloud your impression of the industry as if everyone's a reckless driver. Mining has evolved immensely through the years, most miners are skilled, competent and highly trained. Mine operators begin and end each day with safety first and foremost.

The State and Federal agencies will now begin their investigation as to the actual cause of the accident. I hope they also investigate their own role in the tragic aftermath. I assure you training records and daily mine examination records of the company have already begun to be scutinized. Trying to piece together the events that led to this tragic story may take some time,

...probably a lot more time than it took me to figure out what went wrong last night. :B
 
RE: W.V. miner's story

Craig,

I am not really arguing with you on the fact that the media sucks. They should have done a better job of getting the facts correct before reporting, but at the time they were reporting the information that was given to the families.

It is a shame that those families had to go through this and then after being told that the men were alive only to later find out that the information was wrong and that only 1 of the miners was alive is down right wrong on so many levels.

I just feel that in this case the chain of command broke down and let the wrong information come out. Not only that, but within a few mins of the wrong information coming out they knew it was wrong and didnt do anything about it until a few hours later.

In reality we as the public in general are just as responsible for the way the media has come to report things. In today's world the general public wants to whats going on in real time.
 
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