There seems to be some suggestion - on the internet grapevine - that a well known public figure might be ill. What is the practice with broadcasting organisations when dealing with such suggestions and rumours?
I'm not indicating who at the moment - but how are these things processed?
When is the decision made to deny rumours or simply not report them?
I hope the 'apparant information' is untrue.
(I have given this some thought before posting - but moderators please feel free to remove if it is thought unsuitable content for the board)
In general - not commenting on any particular story.... Rumours are rumours - there may be truth in them, there may not be truth in them. The more they're repeated, the more credibile they seem simply because of the weight of the repetitions. So broadcasters may check what they can (although in the instance you're talking about, I doubt anything would be reported until the individual wanted it to be, or if they were hospitalised), but responsible broadcasters wouldn't report something unless they were certain, and were convinced it was in the public interest (don't jeer). There might be some dusting down of obituaries, reviewing procedures etc...
This rumour started on Popbitch. I don't know of anyone who knew of it before then, so as far as I'm concerned it's well worth ignoring until such times that I hear something from a reputable source.
Rumours are hard things to judge for news broadcasters. Of course, they want to report the news before anyone else, but they have to be careful aswell (especially in this case).
Rumours are hard things to judge for news broadcasters. Of course, they want to report the news before anyone else, but they have to be careful aswell (especially in this case).
Rumours are hard things to judge for news broadcasters. Of course, they want to report the news before anyone else, but they have to be careful aswell (especially in this case).
Without trying to add to the rumours in any way, deaths are the one type of event that news channels can plan for in the knowledge that there is a degree of inevitability about them.
News organisations have large scale contigency plans in place for the death of certain individuals (current examples I believe are Nelson Mandela, the Queen, Margaret Thatcher). These cover which staff members will be sent to what locations and are updated every few months in accordance with different appointments being made.
We saw one such set of plans being put into action last week with Sky and the BBC sending presenters/correspondents/producers to Krakow and Rome when reports that the Pope was dying became clearer. However, jumping the gun can lead to huge costs with the air travel involved in sending a team out at short notice to a potentially major story.