We bring them back to life?

[HanSenSE]

Strange week or so here, and not just the usual basketball playoff craziness.

A week or so ago, there was a wreck outside a city in our area. We find out later one of the people injured was the frosh girls basketball coach. Last Wednesday, our reporter covers the school's girls basketball playoff game, to be told by the school the coach had died. Requite moment of silence before the game, distracted team stumbles through game but wins, candlelight vigil outside gym after the game and darned if we don't report the heck out of it.

Go into office yesterday and news editor tells us "The coach isn't dead." Huh? I know we're good, but revivals aren't in our job description. Turns out the school got bum information from the family and spread it. I don't feel like we did anything wrong, except trust officials who should have the right information. And it's not like we're going to turn it into a Senifeld episode and demand the death certificate before publishing, are we?

Link to the cleanup story by the newsies (outing alert level: low):
http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/corcoran-coach-still-clings-to-life/article_709b880c-6314-11e1-ae50-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[Moderator1]

 

[Point of Order]

You probably didn't do anything wrong, but even so you're now in the odd position of being part of the story (your paper at least) rather than just covering someone else's story. You have to appreciate that and give an accounting of your role in the whole affair and hold it up to scrutiny.

 

[RickStain]

I put a dead girl in a volleyball box score once. Opposing team, not one I covered. She died in a car crash before the season, her team kept her in the program as a memorial. I miswrote a stat and her number got written down for an assist or a block or something.

 

[Batman]

I put a dead girl in a volleyball box score once. Opposing team, not one I covered. She died in a car crash before the season, her team kept her in the program as a memorial. I miswrote a stat and her number got written down for an assist or a block or something.

Rick's editor: "This girl here is dead!"
Rick: "Well, cross her off then."

 

[HanSenSE]

You probably didn't do anything wrong, but even so you're now in the odd position of being part of the story (your paper at least) rather than just covering someone else's story. You have to appreciate that and give an accounting of your role in the whole affair and hold it up to scrutiny.

The other editors know what happened and understand, that's for sure. Haven't seen any of those "how could you guys screw this up" messages from a reader ... yet. In light of recent developments, I'm thinking there's a family disagreement on pulling the plug vs. keeping her alive that we got stuck in the middle of.

 

[reformedhack]

I put a dead girl in a volleyball box score once. Opposing team, not one I covered. She died in a car crash before the season, her team kept her in the program as a memorial. I miswrote a stat and her number got written down for an assist or a block or something.

Could be worse, Rick. You could have done what some stringer for Florida Today (or it might have been the Orlando Sentinel) did while covering a prep basketball game about 20 years ago, when he didn't have a roster for an out-of-town team -- he simply used the names of the seven astronauts from the doomed Challenger flight in the box. Scobee 2 2-7 6, Onizuka 4 3-6 11, Resnik 0 0-2 0, etc. The way I understand the (possibly apocryphal) story, the desk caught it, the box never ran and the stringer was fired.

 

[wicked]

Wow, hack, that's repulsive.

Someone can fill us in on the facts, but I recall a guy at one of the Boston papers put a dead girl's name in a prep softball season preview several years back, relying on the prior year's roster.

 

[LongTimeListener]

The totally legit and above-board "recruiting list" Oregon bought from Willie Lyles included two dead players.

 

[awriter]

Strange week or so here, and not just the usual basketball playoff craziness.

A week or so ago, there was a wreck outside a city in our area. We find out later one of the people injured was the frosh girls basketball coach. Last Wednesday, our reporter covers the school's girls basketball playoff game, to be told by the school the coach had died. Requite moment of silence before the game, distracted team stumbles through game but wins, candlelight vigil outside gym after the game and darned if we don't report the heck out of it.

Go into office yesterday and news editor tells us "The coach isn't dead." Huh? I know we're good, but revivals aren't in our job description. Turns out the school got bum information from the family and spread it. I don't feel like we did anything wrong, except trust officials who should have the right information. And it's not like we're going to turn it into a Senifeld episode and demand the death certificate before publishing, are we?

Link to the cleanup story by the newsies (outing alert level: low):
http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/corcoran-coach-still-clings-to-life/article_709b880c-6314-11e1-ae50-0019bb2963f4.html

When the paper got the initial word of the coach's death, did it try to confirm directly with the family, the county coroner, police or hospital?

 

[JakeandElwood]

I put a dead girl in a volleyball box score once. Opposing team, not one I covered. She died in a car crash before the season, her team kept her in the program as a memorial. I miswrote a stat and her number got written down for an assist or a block or something.

Could be worse, Rick. You could have done what some stringer for Florida Today (or it might have been the Orlando Sentinel) did while covering a prep basketball game about 20 years ago, when he didn't have a roster for an out-of-town team -- he simply used the names of the seven astronauts from the doomed Challenger flight in the box. Scobee 2 2-7 6, Onizuka 4 3-6 11, Resnik 0 0-2 0, etc. The way I understand the (possibly apocryphal) story, the desk caught it, the box never ran and the stringer was fired.

That is ridiculous.

 

[DanOregon]

Actually, the worst would be ignoring the whole thing until you could nail it down in concrete with the moment of silence, the vigil, the absence of the coach. Even if it turned out that you were right, not acknowledging the public outpouring and the public announcement would have brought some serious heat, I imagine. Even more if it was confirmed after deadline he was indeed dead.

Hell, I hate it when the COACHES report "Jessica....2-0-4, Emily 3-1-7, No. 3 10-6-26.

 

[Hoos3725]

The AP once moved a list of baseball free agents that was two years old. On the list were Rod Beck, who had already passed away, an Ugueth Urbina, who was in prison.

The list made it on to the page, but luckily we caught it before it published. That proof, with Beck and Urbina's names circled, is still on our wall.

 

[HanSenSE]

Glad I waited until I got home to follow this ... thanks, Moddy!