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Boston explosions
Apr. 15th, 2013 04:11 pmPEOPLE: Until you read or hear it from a reputable verifiable news source (or saw it yourself), do NOT believe just any "news" article online that tells you people died at the Boston Marathon explosions this afternoon.
Yes, there may well be deaths. But before you panic, if know someone there you haven't yet heard from, WAIT. Read and listen carefully. Check with more than one agency. Reputable ones include Reuters, NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, NBC, ABC, CBS, and yes, even Fox (which I would not trust for details or analysis, but is usually not too bad with breaking details - but again, if you read it on one, I would skip around and check for the same information from another report).
Reporters don't usually deliberately try to mislead or overdramatize, despite what movies and TV tell you - but they can be misinformed and fooled like anyone else, especially if something *just* happened and they're trying to get the information out as quickly as they can. (Also, you might have someone who's inexperienced at the job; or, once in a while, yeah, there's some asshole more interested in a rumor for ratings than in checking the facts. But this is not actually commonplace).
This is a public service of your friendly neighborhood journalist. Be aware that even as I post this there may well be reputable articles that do verify such information; my disclaimer.
Yes, there may well be deaths. But before you panic, if know someone there you haven't yet heard from, WAIT. Read and listen carefully. Check with more than one agency. Reputable ones include Reuters, NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, NBC, ABC, CBS, and yes, even Fox (which I would not trust for details or analysis, but is usually not too bad with breaking details - but again, if you read it on one, I would skip around and check for the same information from another report).
Reporters don't usually deliberately try to mislead or overdramatize, despite what movies and TV tell you - but they can be misinformed and fooled like anyone else, especially if something *just* happened and they're trying to get the information out as quickly as they can. (Also, you might have someone who's inexperienced at the job; or, once in a while, yeah, there's some asshole more interested in a rumor for ratings than in checking the facts. But this is not actually commonplace).
This is a public service of your friendly neighborhood journalist. Be aware that even as I post this there may well be reputable articles that do verify such information; my disclaimer.
