Show respect for West Virginia miners

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – a daily must-see for me – often pokes fun at national news media who sometimes report on news less than they create it. Coverage over the past 24 hours of the tragic explosion at Tallmansville, West Virginia’s Sago Coal Mine shows to what extent such creation takes place.

Families of 12 perished miners waited in desperation to hear news of their loved ones’ conditions while trapped in a carbon monoxide-rich shaft 240 feet below the ground level. After an unconfirmed and incorrect announcement that all the miners were rescued alive, the families of 12 men heard the worst news imaginable; that in fact all but one perished.

I had the television in my office on all day today, flipping mostly between U.S. and Canadian news networks. And to my disappointment – although not to my surprise – I couldn’t help but notice that the story had become – not the tragedy at the coal mine or the stories of the brave people who risked their lives as part of the rescue/recovery efforts – the actual news coverage of the initial “miscommunication” from the mine about the miners being rescued alive, and the international reporting of misinformation that ensued. In an interview with a local television reporter and news director on As it Happens this evening, I am fairly certain more time was spent discussing CNN’s Anderson Cooper’s reaction to the mixed reports of the tragedy than on the tragedy itself.

Really. Do the families of the 12 victims really want to know who’s to blame for an optimistic breach of protocol right now? At this time of grieving, do you really think they want to read about an entirely different angle to the story that has sent a torpedo into their lives?

For the record, 10 of the 12 victims of the Sago explosion (and it even took me a while to find these) were:

Alva Martin Bennett, 50
Jim Bennett, 61
Jerry Groves, 57
George Hamner Jr.
Terry Helms, 50
David Lewis, 28
Martin Toler
Fred Ware Jr
Jack Weaver
Marshall Winans

To the families of the victims, my thoughts are with you along with my hope that the news media don’t drag out this experience to excruciating lengths.

I haven’t seen the Daily Show yet today, but I sure hope Stewart is all over this.