Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat...

The recent tragic errors in reporting events have played out twice lately, and there are many causes for both. But it is not new, at all, and has happened many times in the past. The report of 12 survivors then the true report of one survivor in the W VA mining accident was played out for all who were still awake to see and hear, and the families were hurt in the process.

But Ariel Sharon's death was also reported in places, and he is still with us, albeit on life support.

At least twice there have been folks with egg on their faces about Presidential election results.
There was a 'too early' report that the Holy Father had died which turned out was not true, and that I had also sent out to my yahoo groups.

The examples could go on and on, but one that I just came across had hit people world wide just as the W VA miners did this past week, and it happened in the early days of live television reporting, in Sept of 1972, coming from Munich, Germany, broadcast world wide, including to Israel and America where the hostages' families, friends, etc lived, glued to the news.

I am reading Striking Back The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response, by Aaron Klein. When I read pp 78-79 early this AM on a break at work, I was struck by how far we had not come in reporting.

To be clear, I do NOT blame just the media for that fiasco at the mine! Whoever carried unconfirmed information in the first place needs to take responsibility as well, and then we had all the cell phones spreading word, etc. And the length of time it took for the mining company to get to the families with what was REALLY happening is not justified in my mind.

But the rest of the world heard/saw it via the news, newspapers had headlines that could not be retracted that reported the wrong information for those waking long after the facts had come out and (in some cases, angrily) reported by the same people who had joyously reported the false UNCONFIRMED information several hours before.

The word here is UNCONFIRMED. Speculation is a phenomenon of today's 24/7 news stations, including what seems at times to be trying people on TV long before the trials has even begun, and convicting some even before they are charged.

The need to be the first to report has often caused problems. And I admit to having been taken in at times. I think that we all have been at some point.

But let me quote just a bit from this book...

"Once the helicopters left the Olympic Village, reporters were starved for credible information.... Reporters were forced to serve up live, on-air speculation about every rumor that floated their way. It was impossible to cut the live broadcast and promise a roundup later in the night. The news stations' prerogative held sway: the show must go on."

Next it describes how the reporters were kept at bay, denied entry to the airport, and hence, assumptions were made. As the sound of gunshots sounded, confusion grew. There was not a good system of communication between the airfield and those in charge in the Olympic Village.

quote again from the book.....

Rumors raged. Slightly after 2300 hours, a report circulated among the spectators at the airport gates and spread to the Olympic Village: the Israeli hostages had been rescued following a battle between the police and the terrorists; the terrorists had all been killed. In the absence of any real knowledge, this ideal outcome was exactly what people desparately wanted to believe, and it was presented as fact. The source of the information was unclear and yet everyone -- reporters, politicians, bystanders, and family members -- clung to it. Reuters, the international news agency, sent out an exclusive wire report at 2331: "All Israeli hostages have been freed. "

All attempts to check the facts with officials at Furstenfeldbruck failed.

snip....

The good news spread like wildfire through the Olympic Village and around the world. At last, a happy ending. The village erupted with celebrating athletes pooping champagne corks, hugging, smiling, and crying with joy. The members of the International Olympic Committee along with German and Israeli politicians relaxed for the first time in nineteen hours. In Israel, relatives and friends showed up at athletes' family homes with flowers and champagne. For most Israelis, it was difficult to hold their spontaneous joy in check. They did not heed Yeshayahu Ben-Porat's advice to wait until the hostages appeared before the cameras.

The author goes on to describe the reactions of a few of the wives of the hostages who had reservations and wanted to see their family members before believing the reports.

Then, eerily reminiscent of this past week....

... The truth reached the media just after three in the morning. At 0317 hours Reuters sent a corrected message over the wires: "Flash! All Israeli hostages seized by Arab guerrillas killed."

Jim McKay immediaely broadcast the devastating update to the world. He looked straight into the casmera and said: "I have just gotten the final word. When I was a kid my father used to say, 'Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.' Tonight, they have been realized.... They've now said that there were eleven hostages. Two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning. Nine were killed at the airport tonight...They are all gone. It's all over... I have nothing else to say."

Meanwhile, just before three AM, a sleeping Golda Meir got a phone call from Zvi Zamir who had witnessed the entire event helplessly at the airport (he was head of Mossad, and there because of the kidnapping). She registered the shock of having gone to bed with the news that all were safe, to be awakened by him to learn.... that none were saved.

From 1972 to 2006, have we learned nothing?

God bless!