Wrong...again...and again...

Again I say to my brethren in broadcasting:  it's more important to be factual...than first.

As I watched news reports on television, I cringed as speculation was made and theories were discussed (to my disgust).  And what I perceive to be pure weakness and laziness was delivered in news scripts...

On MSNBC, during a top of hour summary...following them broadcasting Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary addressing reporters...the script referred to a statement from "a White House official".  Minutes before, that official was Carney!  It was as if the writer either had immediately forgotten who Carney is, or had pre-written the script ahead of time and didn't identify Carney before handing the script to the anchor...thereby, in my view, making the anchor sound like a simpleton.

I have no intention on picking on MSNBC.  I noticed mistakes from various news organizations.

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{CNN reported...}

[Updated at 2:11 p.m. ET] CNN's Susan Candiotti has just reported that a law enforcement official tells her the suspect is named Ryan Lanza and he is in his 20s.

[Updated at 3:09 p.m. ET] The suspect's mother was shot and killed at the school, according to source close to the investigation. She was a teacher there.

And we now know that Ryan Lanza, the suspected gunman, was 24.

{Then...}

[Updated at 6:43 p.m. ET] CNN’s Susan Candiotti is talking to investigators at the scene as they piece together exactly what happened and when. She says she’s learned that the mother of the suspected shooter, Nancy Lanza, was found dead in the suspect’s home in Newtown.

“Earlier we had information that she was found in the classroom. However, now I’m being told that in fact her body was found at the suspect's residence," Candiotti said. "We don't know whether she also lived there. We also don't know the timeline – when was she killed? Was she killed before the shooting began at the school? These are the things that authorities are still trying to piece together.”

{Maybe that's the fault of the "law enforcement official".  Now, I want to know who that "official" was that gave the incorrect information.  Later...}

[Updated at 6:44 p.m. ET] Three U.S. law enforcement officials, from different agencies, separately tonight identified the suspected shooter as Adam Lanza, contrary to what investigators had said previously. It is not clear what caused the confusion among investigators.

His older brother, Ryan, was taken into custody for general questioning from a home in Hoboken, New Jersey. Officials did not label Ryan Lanza as a suspect. It is unclear when he may be released.

One of the officials say Adam’s father was also taken in for similar questioning. There is no indication that the father will be charged. The official noted the father has remarried and lives with his new wife in a residence in the general area of Connecticut not too far from where his ex-wife lived.

{Again, I want to know who the investigators were that were wrong.  Because I expect they may make other mistakes.  Other news agencies has reported that the father had been killed.}

(6:44 p.m. ET update – (Three U.S. law enforcement officials say the suspected gunman was Adam Lanza, not his brother Ryan Lanza as officials had previously said. It is not clear what caused the confusion among investigators. Ryan Lanza was picked up from a home in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Friday and has been questioned but has not been labeled as a suspect, officials now say. Also, CNN’s Susan Candiotti is talking to investigators and has now learned that the mother of the suspected shooter was found dead in the suspect’s home in Newtown)

{So the mother was killed in a home, and not the school...}

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school/

After a while, I quit following the story.  Too many news agencies had too much information wrong...