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Re: oops

In a message dated 98-06-05 18:41:17 EDT, you write:

<< AP had a minor goof today...they accidently sent out Bob Hope's obit this
 morning......
 
 Hope was eating breakfast at the time of his announced death >>

According to the story on the NBC Nightly News, the story was a mistake on a
AP website.  A pre-written Bob Hope obituary ended up on the site by mistake.
The story spread when a member of Congress, quite reasonably, read the story
on the floor of Congress.  It is not clear to me if the story was on the AP
wire, but I don't think so.

The NBC story was introduced by Brokaw saying something to the effect "this
inaccurate story spread because of people who like to bash the media:  Members
of Congress."  The taped story put the blame for the story squarely in
Congress, almost ignoring that they got it from an AP site, not some chatroom.
I would certainly think it would be safe to believe an AP story.  I could not
believe that NBC would so twist the story to slam Congress and try to defend
the media.  Totally disceptive and biased.  Mistakes are made and AP should
review their procedures.  Blaming a member of Congress that read an AP story
is bizarre.

Dan Billings
Bowdoinham, Maine

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