Where's Emily Litella Now That We Need Her?

Holy Jesus did broadcast tee vee ever screw the pooch on this one.

Like a millions of others, I went to bed last thinking that 12 cold, tired and dirty men would soon be walking out of a mine in West Virginia. I thought that because I made the very naive mistake of believing what I saw on tee vee. I was watching MSNBC about 11:30 CST when they broke into an interview for a live update reporting that the 12 remaining miners had somehow survived their ordeal. I clicked around and saw that CNN, Fox and all the other usual suspects were barking the exact same tune. There was no couching, no hedging, no 'unconfirmed reports indicate that . . . ,' no nothing; just big graphics - 12 trapped miners would be going home any time now.

Well, what a difference the truth makes. This morning, obviously, there is a different reality for tee vee to cope with, but instead of acknowledging their role in spreading misinformation globally, they were spinning an whole new yard that consisted of 51% flinger pointing, 49% who else got it wrong, and 100% CYA. Nowhere did any of these amateur, cowardly, entertainment-driven frauds suggest any of them jumped the gun. In tee vee's orgasmic rush to be first, no one, as usual bothered to be right. Don't let tools like Bill Hemmer, Geraldo Rivera and Rita Cosby lead you downthe path of 'it just spread like wildfire.' It was Big Media that ran the misinformation out there, bounced it off satellites, and now won't even come back with an Elimy Litella-like "never mind."

Tee vee news sucks, folks, and I couldn't paint you a more illustrative picture even with a fictitious news story. Unfortunatley, we have to be reminded of Big Media's failures during an all-too-real tragedy.