Yo .. Don Henley... you are right... dirty laundry - everyone wants some. Why do we love misery? The up close personal shot of the grieving wife/daughter/son with some hack journalist sticking a microphone in their face asking "How do you feel"..Tell us..and THIS IS BEFORE THE BREAKING NEWS.. So tell me Brian..how were the ratings... must of made your day!. leave the families in peace..

I find it unfathomable that we focus narrowly on one aspect of this terrible tragedy. Lets face it there are many glaring issues. Should the mine have been shut down for safety purposes. Why did the media report a "rumor" as fact? Mine officials waiting so long when they absolutely knew the celebration was in error etc. etc. The rush to find blame with one single entity is off the mark. There is alot of blame and I sense anger and outrage over this drama. When does someone make the media accountable for their actions?!!! The govenor, the mine company, the press they should be held accountable as contributing to the downright awful way these families were treated. This never had to happen and yet the story continues to be "who is responsible. 12 men died lets honor and pray for those guys first! Oh...maybe that will not increase ratings but it is the right thing to do!!

Brian,

To a certain extent, the cheers and jeers of the public on this or any other story don't matter so much, because in the end it all becomes a bit of Internet white noise.

Instead, I ask you to share with us what if anything you've learned or discovered, as a professional and as a plain ol' human being, about what you do for a living...in the rush to be the first, but not necessarily the first to be right.

What we all have to remember is that the media heard the false news from the family members and friends themselves. Agreed that after the fact, they should have verified it before spending three hours reporting that they were alive. However, those people in that church were not watching CNN and the news was not delivered to the families via the media. Viewers at home were certainly misled by the media reporting the false information, but i think the most important issue is finding out who told the families in the church without verifying the information.

It's easy to sit here and blame, the media, the spokesperson for ICG, but the truth is, it was just a mistake and those things happen in the chaos that was in that command center. How can the media check facts for information that was not available? I understand why they did not go to the families immediately, they wanted to be sure, absolutely sure of the information that they had. It's easy to be angry when you lose a loved one, it's harder to move past it and move on. These families need to take the time to grieve for their loved ones and step away from the light of the media. And the media should let them do that.

What a heartwrenching feeling to wake up this morning to find out that the "news" from last night was not accurate and that only one miner - not 12 - from the mining accident that occurred in my neighboring county had survived. I did thank God for sparing this one man, however, my heart ached for the families of the others. Please continue to pray for the families of the miners who lost their lives in this tragic accident, as well as the lone survivor who is fighting for his life. Keep his family in your prayers as well. While his family is definitely relieved that he is alive, this is going to be very difficult for him and his family to deal with knowing the circumstances and events that surrounded this tragedy. No one on earth can know what this man went through in the mine as he lost his friends right beside him. Please keep him in your prayers. As for the "miscommunication", mistakes do happen, and this was a terrible one; however, let's pray that the mining company, the federal government, the media, and others will work to make sure nothing like this mistake ever happens again.

It was a mistake. I don't blame anyone. The news agencies weren't being greedy, they were simply reporting the news. They can't physically go down into the mine. If they said they were alive, then the news agencies must report that. It was a bad mistake... but a mistake.

Brian ...Thank You!
My prayers for those who are suffering these two disasters. We can feel the damage that this situation created. I believe that all communications were presented with good intentions - but unfortunately - when the Media reacts quickly for competition-ratings this is bound to happen. I also believe that this is not the last time that we will experience this type of disappointment.

The misinformation has surely added to the W.Va. mining tragidy, but the real concern IS the unsafe conditions these miners were working under. Focus our energy on providing a safer workplace for all miners. Another mining death will be just as tragic whether the mining officials get the press release right the first time or not.

I think its time for all Americans to SLOW DOWN! Everyone is fighting and scrambling to be No. 1 in anything and everything they do. If it doesn't turn out right we fight and scramble to point the finger at those to blame. I'm telling Americans...use common sense, CHECK YOUR FACTS BEFORE opening your mouth, make sure it won't hurt anyone if you do open your mouth. And for God sakes let's make sure we have safe environments for our mine people. This should have NEVER happened. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!

The miscommunication was clearly unintentional and with all that went on last night, almost unavoidable.
When will we begin to use common sense in a crisis and realize that finger pointing is a waste of valuable time.

I was one of many thousands, I'm sure, who was glued to the television last night on the west coast. Not wanting to go to bed until I had seen the miners with my own eyes, I couldn't help but sense there was something "not right" about the coverage. There was no scepticism on the part of the reporters, (on a rival network)despite some unbelievable claims. The idea that the miners who had been trapped for 40 hours under extreme contitions were going to walk out and go straight to a church--not a hospital--was too much to believe. I fell asleep before the truth came out, but my first thought in the morning was to check msnbc.com to see if it really happened. What heartbreak. I cannot imagine a more painful way to lose a loved one.

I find it amazing that we are amazed. In the age of 24/7 news, quantity and speed is more important than quality. Even if the news had NOT been misreported, this story would go down in my book as one of the worst examples of reporting in a long time. Asking the same questions over and over to family members ("but, in your heart of hearts, tell us all how you really FEEL") is just bad reporting. NEWS is only that if it is NEW...repeating the same (wrong, as it turns out) infomation over and over does no one any good.

The blame for this lies with no one. The familes, the media and the public wanted nothing more than to hear the news that the men trapped had indeed found a miracle and survived. Although the news this morning left me with a heavy heart, I was elated when I went to sleep last night. I remembered to say a prayer of thanks and hug my loved ones a little longer... Things we should all do without the reminder of a miracle being performed. We all wanted to believe... the media was simply acting on information they had received from what at the time was the most reliable source available... the rescue team and rescue coordinators. There was a miscommunication. Please remember that there was a miracle in all of this. Perhaps not the twelve we were praying for, but one soul who will survive and be able to tell the family and friends of those who did not survive of what happened in those long dark hours. While it may not bring them back, they will at least have their story told of the inevitable acts of heroism and bravery they committed during their final hours, and in this may their families find some relief. This is not a time to blame. It's a time to be grateful for all answered prayers... great and small.

The hurry to break the news has happened many times before, remember the last presedential election when the media predicted the sway of votes going to Senator Kerry in Florida? I wonder how many people decided not to vote, thinking that it didn't matter? The media is more dedicated to being the first to break a big story than they are about being accurate.

I find it hard to understand the ranters who blame the media. A very convenient excuse indeed. I do not believe the media caused the safety violations within the mine, or allowed miners to work in unsafe conditions. The media also did not allow the misrepresented statements to go unchecked for three hours. I beleive all of that rests on the mine company and its management. But, like the lemmings rushing to sea, most of us fail to see that because its easier to jump on the "blame the media bandwagon" that it is to actually think through the facts.

It strikes me that you would say "Weren't they (officials) WATCHING the coverage on television?"...isn't it more important that they kept their focus on the individuals who were risking their lives to find possible survivors? I am sure there were difficult decisions being made at every turn and I would hope that watching the news coverage was low on their list. It is just a tragedy all around and while it might be painful for us as viewers, the depth of the families pain is unimaginable. My heart goes out to them.

Unfortunately, our nations newsmedia has lost credibility, AGAIN! Not only do they not report facts, they invent stories from "sources" which when determined to be fabrications, defend themselves with, "reporting what we were told" aka Katrina; aka excuse by Brian Williams for obvious inaccurate reporting on NBC. But then in America, no one dares challenge the newsmedia, talk about Imperial Power. We've lost one of our most cherished institutions and constitutional safeguards to demoncracy.

Reporting news without credibility is the sensational way to earn a living. When will American say enough is enough. We are plagued with reporters constantly quoting an anonymouse source. The media needs to be reigned in.

Baloney . The media is often quilty of reporting inaccurate information in its haste to be first with the 'news'.

I think seeing headlines in my own newspaper that the miners were alive AFTER I knew they weren't was a real eye opener. It proves that while we want to believe the press is offering correct information, we cannot trust it blindly. It makes me very anxious about believing even the smaller details of any news story I read.

My mother gave me some great advice growing up. "When in doubt, don't" Meaning in this instance that if there is any doubt regarding the facts, DON'T report them. Take a breath, check them out. The agony of waiting a few extra minutes or hours to hear about the condition of the miners is nothing compared to the pain felt by the family and the nation after hearing that all were safe and then finding out it was not true.

News is not a reality show; MSNBC, CNN and FOx and all the networks seem to want to be the first to break a story; sorry, the state of journalism is pathetic now..CNN dumped Aaron Brown for Anderson Cooper who was acting like of course the story was true last night when BREAKING NEWS was out that 12 miners were alive; Aaron Brown long ago said you need to check your sources; All network news and all cable news cares about is ratings; there is no integrity in tv/cable/network news until you all stop trying to top each other in ratings. Cable is the worst thing that ever happened to news coverage.

it's pathetic just like how the news media has let Bush and co get away with waging a war on false pretenses...years later you find out there was faulty info. Journalists everwhere need to wake up and get some integrity and stop trying to be stars and get high ratings. This is truly pathetic.

Brian:

Is it possible we are too focused on the miscommunications and not enough on the hole that is being left in the lives of the friends and family of the deceased?

Well said. I have only one comment, in reference to where you say, "In the light of day, media types and civilians alike were asking a question last asked during Katrina: Weren't they (officials) WATCHING the coverage on television?" I would hope the officials were NOT watching television and were instead managing the rescue operation. Also, anyone present there (family member, mine representative, politician, reporter, ANYONE) who told even ONE person that the 12 were alive without first waiting for official word shares in the blame.