In Dallas, another example of perils of reporting breaking news; Washington Post, 7/8/16

Paul Farhi, Washington Post; In Dallas, another example of perils of reporting breaking news:

"Thanks to the speed and ubi­quity of digital media, readers, viewers and listeners know more than ever about any unfolding incident or disaster. But they also know less, thanks to the unfiltered, uncorroborated and just plain inaccurate factoids that poison the news ecosystem like a toxic chemical. It’s not just inaccurate reporting alone; TV news panels and people on social media compound questionable facts by repeating them and speculating about them.

“We keep relearning this lesson over and over,” says W. Joseph Campbell, a communications professor at American University and the author of “Getting It Wrong,” a book about epic journalism mistakes. “With any tragedy, you see it again and again.”"