Friday, April 01, 2005

 

Pettiness

At a time like this, I hate to be petty but I dislike Fox so much that I can't help it.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel erroneously reported the death of Pope John Paul II on Friday afternoon, backpedaled several minutes later, then apologized to viewers for the mistake.

Television networks were marshaling resources and dealing with conflicting reports as the pope’s illness took a turn for the worse Friday, maintaining an electronic vigil like the Roman Catholic faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

Viewers could be forgiven for confusion as the cable news networks flashed reports at them. At 12:30 p.m. EST, MSNBC posted the words ‘‘Pope lost consciousness’’ on its screen. At the same moment, CNN was reporting: ‘‘Pope visibly joining in prayers of those around him.’’

But at 1:23 p.m., Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith reported that the pope had died. At least initially, he did not cite sources.
By 1:30 p.m., Fox reporter Greg Palkot in Rome was sending signals of caution, saying the report had not been confirmed and the network was checking into it.

‘‘The exact time of death, I think, is not something that matters so much at this moment for we will be reliving John Paul’s life for many days and weeks and even years and decades and centuries to come,’’ Smith said.

Smith explained to viewers that a Fox sister company in Italy had been listening to an inaccurate report and it was transmitted to Fox.
Fox spokeswoman Irena Briganti said a Fox producer, monitoring a translation of reports from Italian media, erroneously shouted that the pope had died and it had gotten on the air through an open mike. Smith was responding to the producer’s words.

About 1:55 p.m., Smith apologized to Fox viewers for the initial unsubstantiated report.

‘‘By way of explanation, I am very sorry,’’ Smith said. ‘‘That’s all I can say.’’

posted by Anne 4/01/2005 02:53:00 PM