Miners Dead: “To Sit Here & Armchair Quarterback … Is Ridiculous”

Quoting Eric Deggans in the St. Petersburg Times: “Comparisons to some of the inaccuracies that surfaced in coverage of Hurricane Katrina — in which New Orleans police and municipal officials spread tales of widespread violence that later proved false — rankled MSNBC news executive Mark Effron.

‘In cable news…we’re reporting news as it’s being made, in all its rawness,’ said Effron, vice president of news-daytime programming for MSNBC. ‘To sit here and armchair quarterback…is ridiculous.'”

In the same story, I’m quoted as saying that “maybe we just have to accept that this is what happens in today’s news environment.” I’m suggesting that there’s no turning back — misinformation WILL be broadcast, as it was during Katrina, too — and the public must 1) accept this and 2) understand why it happens…