Shortly after 6:30 on Saturday morning, Charlotte CBS-affiliate WBTV reported that Billy Graham had died. The news was especially significant considering that Graham was born in Charlotte and has been a social luminary in North Carolina for decades.
In fact, the influential Christian leader was very much alive after spending a “restful night” at an Asheville hospital as he battles pneumonia.
Just before 7 a.m., WBTV anchor Kristen Miranda corrected the station’s mistake.
“We got some bad news from CBS News this morning–some incorrect information that the Reverend Graham had passed away,” Miranda told viewers. “We can tell you we’ve checked with Mission Hospital in Asheville and they tell us that is not true.”
It’s unclear where the bad information originated exactly. No other CBS stations in the state reported Graham’s death today.