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Should Editor Have Resigned Over Paterno Error?

Posted by in Breaking News, News & Media, Obit, Sports


The managing editor of a student-run online news organization serving Penn State, the professional home of retired football coach Joe Paterno, resigned Saturday night while apologizing for an erroneous report that Paterno had died earlier that evening.

OnwardState.com reported the death of 85-year-old Paterno, who had earlier been listed in critical condition from complications related to lung cancer treatment. Shortly thereafter, CBS Sports published reports of Paterno’s death, eventually listing OnwardState.com as its source. When CBS Sports reported the death, Twitter and Facebook streams, including mine, began spreading the news.

But Paterno’s son immediately disputed the reports:

I appreciate the support & prayers. Joe is continuing to fight.

An hour or so later, he added:

Drove by students at the Joe statue. Just told my Dad about all the love & support--inspiring him.

When it became apparent that the legendary coach was still alive, Managing Editor Devon Edwards published a letter of retraction, apologizing for “having misled” readers and for the emotional anguish the reports caused.

He then added that the organization works to make amends for the error, that process would begin with him stepping down:

“I take full responsibility for the events that transpired tonight, and for the black mark upon the organization that I have caused.

I ask not for your forgiveness, but for your understanding. I am so very, very, sorry, and we at Onward State continue to pray for Coach Paterno.”

CBS Sports issued a retraction of its own which read in part:

“Earlier Saturday night, CBSSports.com published an unsubstantiated report that former Penn State coach Joe Paterno had died. That mistake was the result of a failure to verify the original report. CBSSports.com holds itself to high journalistic standards, and in this circumstance tonight, we fell well short of those expectations.”

In this day and age, and certainly in this economy, I don’t wish to see anyone have to lose their job. Still, I find it interesting (and fully predictable) that no mention is made of a resignation at CBS Sports.

Personally, while I think it has the makings of a noble gesture on the part of OnwardState’s managing editor to step down, I think the move was unnecessary, particularly in light of an explanation of how the mess happened.

On Sunday, OnwardState.com went into detail about the series of errors that led them to report Paterno’s passing in error.

Here are a few salient points:

    • On Saturday morning, a staff writer got confirmation that Paterno was “in his final days.” (They held off on reporting that fact.)
    • That afternoon, a sports reporter posted in a forum that Paterno’s family had been called to his bedside. (At that time, OnwardState posted both of these facts in a story. Both of these pieces of information, it now appears were accurate.)
    • The newsroom saw conflicting reports on whether Paterno had died. They did not report any of those.
    • Saturday night, one of the staff writers stated he had received word from a source who claimed to have been forwarded an email sent from a high-ranking athletics official. They held off on reporting this immediately.
    • A second staff writer confirmed to the staff that the email in question had been sent to football players.

“With two independent confirmations” of an email announcing his death, OnwardState adds, the managing editor was confident of the veracity of the story and sent out the tweet.

Here’s the problem: the email the first writer claimed he had received turned out to be a hoax. The second writer “had not been honest in his information.”

As I see it, if anyone should be stepping down, it would be anyone who had not been honest in reporting details to his newsroom.

But back in the newsroom, they had independent confirmation of a big story. They followed a reasonable procedure, particularly in this day and age in which one claim can easily get broadcast as an “unconfirmed report.”

These people, it seems, made an honest effort to verify what they had, and became victims of a double hoax for their trouble.

To put it another way, no good deed goes unpunished.

Ironically, just hours after retracting the report of Paterno’s death, that news was going out again; the coach died early Sunday morning. It is beyond clear that the coach was in his final hours at the time the erroneous reports surfaced.

But even though they were false, they seem to have been obtained through reasonable precaution, with a genuine desire to get the story right, even though they didn’t.

You may say that intent makes no difference. In a libel case, it can make all of the difference. This wasn’t a libel case, of course, but the point is that an organization’s intent, in certain situations, does carry legal weight.

It seems to me that in this case, intent — specifically the intent to verify what was being reported, and the good-faith efforts that led the editor to believe he had done so — should count for something as well.

What do you think? Should he have resigned? Would you have kicked any of the people involved out of their roles because of the error, or would you consider it more effective to focus on the “teachable moment” aspect of the situation?