I'm all for breaking news. I've probably even done it a few times in my career. But I'm struggling to understand media's obsession with being the first to announce someone's death.
Last week, we knew renowned boxing trainer Emanuel Steward was not in good health. And then, just as had been done weeks prior when Lions legend Alex Karras passed away — someone jumped the gun.
But in Steward's case, the family chided the media, the Detroit News and Free Press in particular.
Deadline Detroit details the sordid process of how the News' headline came to be as well as others in the Detroit media who slipped. In the News' case, a pre-written obit, common practice, was posted to their site despite the author's words of warning via email.
Former Steward student Lennox Lewis did have a good point, according to DD, that the family could have taken to social media to refute the claims. That seems to be the defense method du jour. It shouldn't have to come to that, but when moves at lightning speed, just like auto feed errors, expect more of the same.