CBS Sportsline falls for Internet hoax, runs prominent correction
September 9, 2004 · Filed Under Cyber Slip-Ups, Ethics and Credibility, Resources
CBS Sportsline fell for an Internet hoax today, reporting in a bulletin that the Washington Redskins’ new player, Clinton Portis, was injured.
It’s easy to make mistakes online and fix them quietly, but it takes guts to blow out a correction on the home page and give it more prominence than the lead story.
Read more and see the correction…
CBS Sportsline fell for an Internet hoax today, reporting in a bulletin that the Washington Redskins’ new player, Clinton Portis, was injured.
Apparently an Internet hoaxer created a Web site with an address and look that closely mirrored the official site of the NFL and put the false story on it, The Washington Post reports.
After taking down the report, Sportsline.com posted a prominent correction at the top of the home page.
“CBS Sports, Devaney, and SportsLine.com regret the error, which was prominently displayed on CBS SportsLine’s homepage for about 5 minutes late Thursday afternoon,” SportsLine.com managing editor Mark Swanson added in a note. “It was egregious and, frankly, unforgivable, and we apologize to our readers, Portis, and to the Redskins for publishing the misinformation. Accurate information is a user and reader commodity we take very seriously, and this story did not meet those standards. Again, please accept our apology.”
It’s easy to make mistakes online and fix them quietly, but it takes guts to blow out a correction on the home page and give it more prominence than the lead story.
More sites should follow this lead. If you make a mistake online, the correction should be given equal or greater play than the original mistake.
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Fantasy Football headaches
Geez, I have enough problems just deciding on my Fantasy Football team’s lineup each week without having to worry about this….
CBS, by being attacked over the Dan Rather cover-up, and now all these other things, may smarten up and rise up as a paragon of journalistic excellance.
I am angry at the Dan Rather fiasco, but I cheer and applaud CBS when they come forward and ADMIT MISTAKES.
Hooray. They’re getting wiser and better!