24 hour rule

[pbray]

A good rule of thumb is that any news you hear in the first hours after a disaster will be wrong. You see this in airplane crashes where early speculation on causes is usually later disproved by scientific analysis, or in the recent Binghamton shooting where much of the early reporting was inaccurate, even when it came from apparently credible sources such as a news release from our local congressman.

In that vein USA Today has a report on 10 Years after Columbine, pointing out that much of what was reported in the days, weeks and months after the incident turned out to be wrong. As school officials around the country rushed to prevent another Columbine, they focused on the public image of the shooters as disaffected loners who had been bullied by their classmates, when the reality turned out to be far different and more complex.

Comments

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

I had no idea the perceived wisdom was so wrong. I don't think I ever heard about the bombs before.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I'd heard about the bombs, but my impression of those involved was still based on the original media coverage--if you'd asked me before today I would have painted them as disaffected loners going after their enemies list.

What's amazing is how long the various government agencies stalled on releasing other information that would have contradicted the original picture.

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

This was what I thought too. Disaffected losers are responsible for all our problems, right?

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

That and Disgruntled Former Employees.

A couple of months ago, my mother made some comment about Tylenol re:cyanide.

My brothers and sister and I went back and forth on the email, my mother's main thing being "seven people *died*!" I finally pointed out to her that Tylenol was a _victim_ in that case, as the DFE had added the cyanide to the capsules after they left the factory. (Hence the many layers of "safety seals" we now have to chew through to get to the gooey Tylenol center.)

Another case of people's perceptions being tied to the news stories of the time. Oddly enough, we kids were between 11-17 at the time, and every one of us remembered the "after it left the factory" detail. My mother, who obviously was an adult at the time, did not.

I did know about the bombs the Columbine killers made.

Remember during the DC Sniper shootings, they were looking for "a white van or panel truck?" To the extent that they were stopping every single such vehicle in the tri-state area. The real snipers, of course, were in a blue sedan.