On Saturday night, October 12th, we reported on our late news that the former President of Idaho State University had been shot and killed by a gunman in Colorado. That was not true. Former ISU President Michael Gallagher's wife Floyce was shot and killed along with his good friend Dr. Terry Fine. Through my investigation of this mistake, I suspect what happened is a news employee inadvertantly confused Fine with Gallagher.
That's an explanation. It is not an excuse. There is no excuse.
And so to anyone we misinformed out there, I offer a sincere apology and want you to know the person who made the mistake will be held accountable for it.
Sometimes, I think news organizations can come across as arrogant for somehow projecting the image that we don't make mistakes, and for refusing to own up to them when we do. Not at 'Today's 6 News.' Like all news organizations, we are made of human beings and as such, we will make mistakes from time-to-time. We have processes to prevent them, but they are not going to be 100% failsafe. When a serious mistake does go on the air, we at 'Today's 6 News' feel we have three obligations.
- To correct the record so that you the viewer are not left with a misimpression.
- To acknowledge the error publicly so that you know we hold ourselves accountable to you.
- To hold those who make such mistakes accountable to help insure they are not repeated.
There are those out there who like to use the fact we will publicly admit our mistakes against us, and that's fair game. My personal philosophy is you the viewer will give your trust to a news organization that is willing to admit when it makes a mistake rather than one that isn't.
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