Media Coverage of West Virginia Mining Disaster

Reporters who covered the Sago mining disaster in West Virginia the previous month discussed coverage of the story, including the misinformation reported about the survival of the miners. Topics included the challenges faced by journalists covering the story, the lessons they learned, and the role that 24-hour news coverage may have played in an embarrassing mistake by the media. After their remarks the panelists answered audience members. The panel was moderated by Ms. McBride.

On January 2, 2006, an explosion in the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, W.V., trapped 13 miners and began a two-day rescue mission. Newspapers, radio and television reported just before midnight on January 3 that 12 of the 13 miners had survived. National news broadcasters documented the families' euphoria. Newspaper headlines throughout the country said that all 12 miners had survived. In the end, only one miner, 27-year-old Randal McCloy Jr., lived, but for three hours, family members, the media and the countr close