Disasters have a way of bringing out the best and the worst in people.
This past week, with both the bombing in Boston and the tragedy in Texas we saw a lot of the best.
There were amazing acts of bravery and selflessness. We witnessed law enforcement, rescue workers and investigators working tirelessly. We also saw the efforts of reporters, other news professionals, and bloggers whose work brought the stories to us.
Unfortunately, we also saw some of the worst.
This past week’s event put a spotlight on a problem that’s becoming more and more prevalent in news reporting, which is that speed trumps accuracy.
As news began to break that the FBI would be revealing the identities of the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects, bloggers and even the mainstream media rushed to be the first to report the big news.
The result of this mad dash was that two innocent individuals were accused of a horrible crime, that they had no connection to.
Journalists, both professional and citizen, play an important part in our democracy. They inform people of important issues and events. They expose injustices and restore balance. They create educated and informed citizens.
Okay, so I may be a little biased. But ideally, this is the role journalists should play. Which is why it is so troubling to see so many playing fast and loose with the facts.
We’ve become so accustomed to the immediacy of information, that we haven’t stopped to think about the price. Which is unfortunate, because we’re the ones who will have to pay.
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More on the Story: The Atlantic
…just for fun:
