Buckhannon Mine Disaster

[AGDee]

I saw tapes of the governor, who has admitted that he hadn't gotten the information from the command center, but not tapes of the CEO of the mining company. The governor was on the steps of the church

[honeychile]

Peaceful look of carbon monoxide poisoning?! That woman obviously never saw someone who died of carbon monoxide poisoning!!

[kddani]

I understand this was a big event. But did we have to break into regular programming to show a press conference by the doctor at Allegheny General who will be working on him? Nothing big has happened. Why did they have to break into normal TV?

Good old Pittsburgh media that makes a HUGE deal out of anything and everything

[Silverblue]

Well, also take into account that the closest Anderson Cooper has probably ever been to coal is a coal black cashmere blazer or something of the like.

Full disclosure: I'm a journalist. As is Anderson Cooper. He is not a miner by profession. Neither were the other reporters covering this story. Neither were most of the viewers. CNN and other media did, however, interview mining experts. This is how we cover stories and then put in context, through questions posed to experts, what this information means.

This is all we have been talking about in my newsroom. For those critical of how the media handled this, consider the following: When a governor and a congressional representative tell you something is true, as in this case, you regard them as authoritative sources. The idea that this information would have gotten out in any form without being confirmed was unimaginable.

This is the situation newspapers faced late Tuesday/early Wednesday: At 11:52 p.m., The Associated Press moved a news alert that the 12 remaining miners had been found alive. Details that followed had the governor confirming this. With that confirmation, papers remade their front pages and went to press. Our final edition, for example, went to press at 1:20 a.m. Our press run was completed at 2:30 a.m. Twenty-seven minutes later, the AP issued another news alert with the horrible truth that only one miner had survived. There was nothing we or so many other papers in the Eastern United States could do except be incredulous and extremely frustrated.

[33girl]

I wasn't ragging on ALL media, just AC because of his privileged upbringing and that he might not be the best person to send to this neck of the woods.

[Silverblue]

I'm a huge fan of his, but I kept switching back and forth between CNN, MSNBC and Fox that night, and they all did as good a job as they could do, given the situation. They all had pretty much the same information. The main variables were which family members were interviewed by each. Anderson's one of their star reporters. CNN sent him; MSNBC sent Rita Cosby. I don't think the backgrounds of any of the reporters negatively influenced their coverage. But they all got a crash course in what a dangerous job coal mining is this week.

Though I'm a print journalist, I had to take a broadcasting course in college. Filling airtime is a lot harder than it looks, so I tend to give reporters working on developing stories like that some wiggle room. They have huge amounts of pressure on them to be the first on the air with new information.

Usually, that works in favor of print. We can wait for a story to gel, questions to be answered and inconsistencies to be cleared up. Because of when this broke, many of us got bitten this time. This story is just unbearably sad.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by 33girl
I wasn't ragging on ALL media, just AC because of his privileged upbringing and that he might not be the best person to send to this neck of the woods.

I understand why you would think that, but poverty isn't a prerequisite for being a reporter.

I've never been a reporter, but I've been onsite at some pretty major stories -- including a major airline crash where parts of the aircraft were still intact and there were bodies still inside. Unlike most scenes like that, we were allowed within 50 feet or so of the plane. It's remarkably intense and can be very confusing -- especially early on. It's really difficult to filter the facts from rumors.

It seems to me that what made this coverage fall apart is that the "officials" allowed themselves to be overrun by the rumor mill and became one of the catalysts for the confusion.

[Silverblue]

Exactly. And if one of those officials had spoken to a reporter as soon as they found out this incorrect information was being aired and said it wasn't confirmed ... well, it still wouldn't have been good, but it wouldn't have been quite as bad.

Cell phones played a big part, too. Once people inside the church started getting calls saying all the miners were alive, the "news" took on a life of its own.

Something I found very interesting between the apparently wonderful news and the tragic news was that some of the reporters made some comments about how it was strange that no press conference had been held and that only one ambulance had sped by them. So those on the scene were starting to feel uneasy. CNN interviewed the doctor via phone at the hospital that treated the survivor, and she found it strange that no other patients had arrived. The hospital had been told to expect 12 miners and had the necessary medical staff ready and waiting. Right then, I thought, "Uh-oh." I thought maybe some of them hadn't survived after all, but I never imagined all 11 were gone.

[Silverblue]

Also.... who made this one woman the spokesperson? The one with the son and daughter. Everytime I turn on the CNN or whatever she's being interviewed.

Quite simply, she was willing to be interviewed. She ran out of the church and up to Anderson Cooper with the news that only one miner had survived. She had first-person information. My mother had been watching earlier in the day, and apparently he had interviewed her already, so they had a relationship of sorts established. She didn't have a family member in the mine, so she wasn't so grief-stricken that she couldn't face the media.

And yes, we feel awful about asking questions of people who are going through tragedies. But it was the reporters' jobs to find out what had transpired in that church. Everybody watching wanted to know what the heck had happened. Most couldn't speak, but some went up to the reporters and volunteered information. After any tragedy, you'll see the same people on every network being interviewed. For some, this is cathartic. For some, well, I guess it makes them feel important. But I'm such a private person, I know I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that.

[PM_Mama00]

SilverBlue, I understand your point. But I just got the vibe that she liked the 15 minutes of fame after I saw her interviewed more than a few times.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
SilverBlue, I understand your point. But I just got the vibe that she liked the 15 minutes of fame after I saw her interviewed more than a few times.

I had that feeling, too, but she did have important information.

ABC did a special "Prime Time" last night, and I found its dynamics very interesting -- particularly the interviews with the United Mine Workers and the "Billionaire" CEO of the company that owns the mine.

I've alluded to this in a couple of other places, but the first comment I read from the UMW was highly complimentary to the company in terms of it trying to bring the mine up to standards. Remember, they've only owned the property since November. Suddenly, the union is hyper-critical. That seems opportunistic to me.

Second, ABC's "Chief Investigative Correspondent" did an incredibly one sided and accusatory interview with the company CEO -- in answer to which, to his credit, the CEO looked the guy right in the eye, took responsibility and answered every question (when the reporter allowed him to finish a sentence) in an honest and straightforward manner. That was especially impressive since many of the answers didn't make him or the company look good -- only honest.

I think ABC did what we used to call a "hatchet job" on the CEO. It may turn out that the guy is a total jerk -- but he certainly handled himself well. Had I been sitting in his chair I might have thrown something at the reporter.

[KillarneyRose]

Originally posted by kddani
I understand this was a big event. But did we have to break into regular programming to show a press conference by the doctor at Allegheny General who will be working on him? Nothing big has happened. Why did they have to break into normal TV?

Good old Pittsburgh media that makes a HUGE deal out of anything and everything

Don't worry, it's a national story. Or at least regional, as it's a pretty big deal down here, too.

I'm actually pretty proud that the man was brought to AGH (even if it's probably because it is the closest Level One trauma center to Morgantown). I wonder why he wasn't sent to UMPC, though? That's definitely higher profile.

[Rudey]

Mines are responsible for incredible environmental damage and have shoddy safety regulations. Most should be shut down or heavily taxed.

-Rudey

[Silverblue]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
SilverBlue, I understand your point. But I just got the vibe that she liked the 15 minutes of fame after I saw her interviewed more than a few times.

Oh, she absolutely did. Interesting study of human behavior, isn't it?

[Silverblue]

Quote from Delt Alum: "ABC did a special "Prime Time" last night, and I found its dynamics very interesting -- particularly the interviews with the United Mine Workers and the "Billionaire" CEO of the company that owns the mine."

I wish I had seen that, but I was at work. Answering tough questions honestly is the best thing the owner can do now.

Before I went to bed last night, I heard some of the 911 calls, both after the accident and when the miners were found Tuesday night. Whoever talked to the 911 operator told her he thought all 12 had been found alive. No wonder it spread like wildfire.