My hands got clammy, I kinda got the shakes. When news spread throughout the newsroom that Twitter was down... I didn’t believe it.Like everyone else, I stopped, fired up my web browser and tried to load the page.
Immediately, I checked my iPhone, my tablet. How was I to function? Like so many, I resorted to my second “like”: Facebook.
With the help of a CNN article, I found some people who survived the outage with humor.
You learn a lot when #Twitter is down. For example, my wife left me four years ago.
— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) July 26, 2012
When Twitter goes down you'd think I would get more done.Turns out I just keep checking if it is back up again.
— David Smith (@_DavidSmith) July 26, 2012
I kept checking myself... over and over and over again.
8:02 p.m. update:
FOX News stands by its reporting:
The University of Colorado Denver issued a statement Wednesday evening confirming that a suspicious package was found but calling the July 12 timeline "inaccurate." The university said it was delivered Monday and found on the same day. However, it wasn't clear if the statement was referring to the package from Holmes or the harmless package from someone else.
FoxNews.com's source reaffirmed that Holmes' notebook arrived before the massacre.
The university also denied Wednesday that the package "sat on a loading dock," even though FoxNews.com reported it was instead found in a mailroom.
I’ll admit, I was worried today when FOX News reported details
about a package that I hadn’t reported and didn’t know. I called sources like
crazy. No one could back up the entire FOX News report.Hours passed and still no verification.
Believe it or not, I started to breathe a sigh of relief.
I began to question the report. But it was also a relief
in a way because that meant the package hadn’t arrived long before the
shootings and it wasn’t the one thing that could have prevented the killings.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus just
sent out a statement that says, “The
anonymous Fox News source that the package was received on July 12 and sat on a
loading dock is inaccurate.” (read full statement after the jump)
The news release
says the suspicious package (that I reported was sent by the suspect with a
return address of his) was delivered July 23.
I work hard, along with my co-workers in 9Wants to Know,
to double check our facts and question our sources when they tell me
something. It’s uncomfortable to ask someone
(who is nice enough to give you information) ‘How do you know this? Did you
actually hear this or did someone tell you this? How are you in a position to
know?’
I have no idea what steps FOX News took and I’m hesitant
to throw stones. Gathering news responsibly and accurately is very tough –
especially when there is a gag order.
One thing I will say: we in the media all lose when a media outlet makes what appears to be a mistake.
Some might argue that the university is trying to save
face by discrediting the FOX News report. I don’t understand how that would be
beneficial since the facts will eventually come out anyway.
Comments I received on social media. (Updated 12:28 a.m. Thursday. The full release is below.)
MEDIA RELEASE:
Update on suspicious packages discovered at University
of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Some of you have tweeted me asking if
Westboro Baptist Church is coming to Colorado to protest after the theater
shootings. Viewers have called the newsroom asking the same.
Newspaper articles online and social
media posts indicate that may be true.
I hope this blog helps explain our
coverage decision and does nothing more.
For the most part we don’t cover Westboro
Baptist Church protests when they come to Colorado. They have been before and only
rarely have we covered them.
Should something newsworthy happen while
they are here, you can be assured 9NEWS will keep you informed.
