Web Show Tweets "Steve Jobs Is Dead", CBS News Drops Them Within Minutes
Is this an overreaction or a quick response to shoddy journalism?
CBS News has cut off all connection to the live web show “What’s Trending” because of a tweet that the account sent out last week. And the tweet?
“Reports say that Steve Jobs has passed away. Stay tuned for more updates.”
For those concerned about the iconic former Apple CEO, Jobs is very much alive, but that false tweet about his passing did cause someone to lose their job.
Gawker reports that “What’s Trending” has now been completely disowned by CBS because of that tweet.
After falsely tweeting about Job’s death on Friday, “What’s Trending” did try to rectify their mistake: they retracted the tweet, host Shira Lazar tweeted an apology, and Lazar even issued an on-air apology, stating in part that “a miscommunication in the newsroom resulted in a junior staffer at “What’s Trending” sending a tweet that contained an unchecked, unconfirmed, and ultimately untrue report about Steve Jobs.”
The Hollywood Reporter first noticed that “What’s Trending” had been removed from the CBS website on Saturday. According to the Reporter, executives informed CBS Interactive shortly after the original Jobs tweet that they should remove all material related to Lazar and “What’s Trending” from CBSNew.com.
Is this an overreaction on CBS’s part? Or is their zero tolerance policy when it comes to tweeting the news a good thing for credibility on Twitter? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
