News: Verify before reporting breaking news

What is wrong with news reporters these days? On Monday, when a shooting happened at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., there was a lot of false information reported on a local TV station (Channel 7). It was reported that a police officer had been shot, that people had multiple injuries and that the Capitol and White House had been locked down.

The truth was that no police officer had been shot, the suspect with the gun was the only one shot, only one bystander had minor injuries, and only the Capitol had been locked down, not the White House.

Why don’t these reporters verify information before they put it out? I think it is because they want to be the first ones to get the news out before the other news channels. They want to first to get the “breaking news” out, whether true or not.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 9:59 AM with the headline "News: Verify before reporting breaking news."