Abnormal Interests

I do want to take a moment and look at two early press reactions to his death because I think they tell us much about the nature of the world he left behind. First was the premature announcement of his death on Fox News.

I take the following account from CBS News:

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.

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

According to the New York Times , the Pope actually died at 9:37 p.m. First, Fox clearly wanted to scoop the rest of the media. Second, they tried to cover up their mistake with a lame "The exact time of death, I think, is not something that matters so much at this moment. . ." They followed later with an admission of error. Third, CBS seems to have made more of this than any other outlet. Of course, CBS has also jumped the gun recently and that little gaff may have just won President Bush reelection. An accumulation of very small things determined the vote.

The second media gaff was from the NY Times. This has been widely reported in the bloggoshere (for example Crooked Timber). An early online Times report read:

Even as his own voice faded away, his views on the sanctity of all human life echoed unambiguously among Catholics and Christian evangelicals in the United States on issues from abortion to the end of life.

need some quote from supporter

John Paul II's admirers were as passionate as his detractors, for whom his long illness served as a symbol for what they said was a decrepit, tradition-bound papacy in need of rejuvenation and a bolder connection with modern life. [emphasis added]

This was corrected in later editions. Like Fox, the Times was more than a little eager to get out their message.

All of this reinforces a much-discussed problem in our world. "When in doubt, get it out." We all work at the speed of the internet. This often reduces both our TV and print media to being nothing more than the worst kind of bloggers. Sometimes, and a Pope's death may be just such a case, we need to sit back and get it right the first time.

There is another interesting sidelight to the NY Times story. Power Line reported the Times gaff and made this strange observation.

The Times had its criticisms of John Paul's papacy ready to go, but apparently went looking for something good to say about the Pope at the last minute.

While they were quick to pick on the evil Times, it took them another nearly 24 hours to say something good about the Pope themselves. And the Times obituary, even with the gaff, was not bad at all. It contained the following:

From his home country of Poland, to Africa, Asia and Latin America, world leaders and ordinary people alike reacted both in sorrow and some relief that the pope's long suffering had finally ended. There are more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

"The world has lost a champion of human freedom and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home," President Bush said at the White House. "Pope John Paul II was himself an inspiration to millions of Americans and to so many more throughout the world.

That sure doesn't sound like Pope bashing to me.