Update: This article was written at 9:30 PM on 1/21/11. According to multiple sources, Joe Paterno passed away this morning on 1/22/11. Our thoughts are with his family.
It ran at approximately 8:30 PM on Facebook, the tragic CBS Sports report of Joe Paterno’s death.
With roiling vigor, and in a matter of minutes, millions of people tweeted, posted and texted “R.I.P. JoPa.”
Yet, as quickly as the news of Paterno’s death spread, we heard the counters from Paterno’s family on Twitter that Joe Paterno was not dead. He was gravely ill, but certainly not dead.
Everyone sat in limbo as the debates and reports ping-ponged around the social media circles. And then, CBS apologized.
It appeared CBS had gotten false information from a reliable source, AKA an online college student ran newspaper called ‘Onward State’ in Pennsylvania.
Yes, CBS risked its brand on a report from a college blog. All in the effort to be the first to report breaking news on social media.
But it backfired, horribly.
What has happened over the last hour to CBS has certainly ruined its credibility in the short-term as a reliable news source on social media.
In fact, this incident may end up completely destroying their social media brand.
Don’t believe me that false reports can kill your brand in an instant, check out CBS’ wall after the incident:
In social media, we often get too caught up in the race to be the first to report something. It is an undeniable fact that in social media our c (k)lout and our status depends on our ability to post original content quickly.
However, if you can take anything away from this incident, it’s that NOTHING can ever replace the importance of the truth. While I know we can often feel the pressure of the need for rapidness of information in social media, we as journalists cannot let it deter us from posting responsibly and with character.
After all, our brand depends on it.
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