In Journalism today it sometimes seems as if being first with a breaking story trumps everything—even being correct.
The latest media outfit to screw up on a breaking news story was NBC News, which breathlessly wanted to announce to the world that famed astronaut Neil Armstrong had passed away.
However, from the looks of things, its Web editor, who was probably about 10 when Armstrong walked on the moon, posted that “Astronaut Neil Young, the first man to walk on the moon, dies at age 82.” Young is a Hall of Fame rock star.
Even the NBC correction is hilarious: ”Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated Neil Armstrong’s last name.,” it read.
NBC News didn’t get Armstrong’s name wrong, they simply “misstated it.”
ANYONE THAT STUPID?
You have to wonder if the mistake really was a mistake. Is anybody that stupid? Are the two men often confused?
And I’m sure Neil Young took the news pretty hard, too. Imagine that – turning on NBC only to be told that you’re dead. Perhaps a “heart of gold” would have saved him.
INDIA?
Maybe they outsourced the web posting duties to India.
NOT BORN YET
John, I think the NBC web editor was still 20 years away from life when Armstrong walked on the moon!
ARMSTRONG MADE US PROUD
It is a sad testament to our educational system that any American (particularly a journalist) would not get the name of Neil Armstrong correct. Neil stirred our hearts, always gave the credit away to others, and set a high bar for the potential that we have as humans. Science tells us that the constituent elements of our bodies could only have been forged in the fusion furnaces of stars gone supernova. I find it most fitting and wondrous that Neil Armstrong is now back among the stars. He made us all profoundly proud of our humanity for a brief moment in time.