CNN reporting 12 miners alive!

[Honeibee]

I am completely uneducated about mining so if this is a ridiculous comment, please be kind....

But why do we still have miners anyway? Can't mining be done by machines? Why send men two miles underground? It seems so risky. Can't this be done by computers and machines now?

Someone please enlighten me.

 

[Southern4sure]

I went to bed after hearing the good news of 12 survivors. I only watched CNN. CNN kept saying the news was unconfirmed but having talked with several friends and family members who each told the same detailed info that came from the mining spokesperson. The mining spokeperson told the families that 12 survived and when each one was brought to the surface they would be fed and brought to the church to be with family first then friends. IF the mining co knew within 20 minutes that wrong info was being broadcast, how could they give such specific info to families? I'm sure it took more than 20 minutes to come up the the details/speech to pass along to the families. They knew the families were waiting at the church like they were told. Why wait 3 hours to correct the wrong info?

Was the media wrong...maybe but after people were coming out of the church rejoicing and repeating the same scenerio over and over again, I feel this is not just the media's fault. It begins with the mining execs who failed the families.

I cried this morning after hearing the news that 12 died. All I can see is the faces of the families last night cheering and crying. I cannot imagine the rollercoaster nightmare they have endured. My prayers are with each of the families involved.

 

[OhMari]

The coal in the mountains, has to be mined out by men. Did you know as early as 1990, they were still relying on parakeets to show if there was carbon minoxide in the shaft. Someone came up with a lantern invention that will determine if levels become to high, the latern will light up.

I just learned all this in March when we visited the Field Museum in Chicago.

There are machines that drill to the coal, but men still have to go down in the shafts to run the machines.

 

[escape]

For those of you who were watching CNN as this miscommunication all unfolded -

Anderson Cooper was really confused when he heard from someone from the church that the reports of the 12 miners being alive were untrue. Apparently, he had interviewed a nurse a little earlier who claimed to have treated some of the miners, thereby strengthening the rumors of the miners being alive. Did anyone catch this? I didn't actually see this interview with the nurse but AC was scratching his head wondering why the nurse would say what she did if these men were not alive.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

But what better sources were there than the families, the governor and the company president?

I was up watching CNN and they were very clear where their information was coming from and that they were waiting for official confirmation in the form of a news conference. I fell asleep shortly after the ambulance left with the survivor and woke up to the news that their was only one survivor about an hour later. I don't think the media is to blame in this case (at least not CNN, I can't judge the others because I wasn't watching/reading them)

M.

(Edited to add a big ditto to Miss Jasmine. Even to the the part about her grandfather - mine was a miner too! My Dad worked in the pit during the summers when he was in university. I grew up in a mining town. )

The 24/7 news channels should know better by now than to immediately run with a story without thoroughly checking it out. They all ran with the story based on the euphoria of the moment, making an incredibly stupid error in judgment to accept an unsubstantiated announcement by the governor, who later said even they had not verified the rumor!

There is plenty of blame to go around and it should start with the company prez and the WV governor. Both of them contributed greatly to the problem. But the media doesn't get a free pass from me on this. They should know better, but alas it seems they don't learn from their experiences any better than anyone else.

 

[Ziva]

For those of you who were watching CNN as this miscommunication all unfolded -

Anderson Cooper was really confused when he heard from someone from the church that the reports of the 12 miners being alive were untrue. Apparently, he had interviewed a nurse a little earlier who claimed to have treated some of the miners, thereby strengthening the rumors of the miners being alive. Did anyone catch this? I didn't actually see this interview with the nurse but AC was scratching his head wondering why the nurse would say what she did if these men were not alive.

That happened after 9/11 somebody had claimed to get a phone call from some police or firefighters saying they were trapped but alive, she made the whole thing up.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

For those of you who were watching CNN as this miscommunication all unfolded -

Anderson Cooper was really confused when he heard from someone from the church that the reports of the 12 miners being alive were untrue. Apparently, he had interviewed a nurse a little earlier who claimed to have treated some of the miners, thereby strengthening the rumors of the miners being alive. Did anyone catch this? I didn't actually see this interview with the nurse but AC was scratching his head wondering why the nurse would say what she did if these men were not alive.

This is another sad example of the problem the news channels face in crises like this. There are long periods with nothing new to report, yet they have to fill the time with "something." Being too eager to find something "new" and "fresh" to report, they do an on-the-fly interview, once again without checking the facts. Shouldn't AC have enough sense to ask the nurse how she could treat miners who had yet to be freed from the mine?

 

[Geoff_M]

Did you know as early as 1990, they were still relying on parakeets to show if there was carbon minoxide in the shaft. Someone came up with a lantern invention that will determine if levels become to high, the latern will light up.

I just learned all this in March when we visited the Field Museum in Chicago.

I think you're confusing the Field Museum of natural history with my all-time favorite museum: The Museum of Science and Industry. MSI is the one that has the mocked-up coal mine inside. Also, the lanterns were used to detect methane, not CO. CO is the result of combustion (explosion in this case) and is not explosive.

 

[Geoff_M]

There is plenty of blame to go around and it should start with the company prez and the WV governor.

I've looked at reports from CNN, Fox, and AP and I haven't read any earlier statements from the mine company CEO where he asserted that they had been found alive. The closest I've seen are comments from some of the families that "They told us they were alive". I think it's likely that they are talking about the word that came out of the command center that the miners had been "found". I did find a quote from the CEO that 20 minutes after the rumors started that he knew they weren't fully correct, but he said he wanted a full accounting before any official word was given.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I've looked at reports from CNN, Fox, and AP and I haven't read any earlier statements from the mine company CEO where he asserted that they had been found alive. The closest I've seen are comments from some of the families that "They told us they were alive". I think it's likely that they are talking about the word that came out of the command center that the miners had been "found". I did find a quote from the CEO that 20 minutes after the rumors started that he knew they weren't fully correct, but he said he wanted a full accounting before any official word was given.

I am not aware that any statement was made during this time frame. I believe this is just backpeddling on the mining company's part. If he knew 20 minutes after the rumor started that the information may not be correct, he should have told whoever to call a briefing at that time and have the spokesperson issue a verbal statement. Believe me the media would have shown up and covered the briefing (probably in the anticipation it would be GOOD news and perhaps photo ops would occur). He could have simply said at that point, "I know there is rumor that the 12 miners have survived. We cannot confirm it at this time. We do have the rescuers in that area, the men have been located, but we are still assessing their conditions, and as soon as more information becomes available, I will hold another brieifing. Again, at this time I cannot confirm the status of the miners. I still remain optomistic, but it's important that we proceed with caution until we have all the information. I ask that the media stand-by since more information should be shortly forthcoming."

While the spokesperson was making the statement, the CEO should have gone to the victims' families, and said something similar.

Instead everyone is passing the buck.

 

[Southern4sure]

I do not think the families are making up the info they were told. From CNN website, one family member states

Hatfield's announcement sent Anna Casto, who lost her cousin, into a tirade.

"No, he strictly told us they was alive," Casto said. "Three hours later he come back and said they wasn't."


Who was "he"? Was Hatfield in the church and that is where the phone call was to/from? Was "he" an mining rep? How could they announce in detail the miners would be fed and brought to the church if within 20 minutes the execs knew this was miscommunication?

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I am not aware that any statement was made during this time frame. I believe this is just backpeddling on the mining company's part. If he knew 20 minutes after the rumor started that the information may not be correct, he should have told whoever to call a briefing at that time and have the spokesperson issue a verbal statement. Believe me the media would have shown up and covered the briefing (probably in the anticipation it would be GOOD news and perhaps photo ops would occur). He could have simply said at that point, "I know there is rumor that the 12 miners have survived. We cannot confirm it at this time. We do have the rescuers in that area, the men have been located, but we are still assessing their conditions, and as soon as more information becomes available, I will hold another brieifing. Again, at this time I cannot confirm the status of the miners. I still remain optomistic, but it's important that we proceed with caution until we have all the information. I ask that the media stand-by since more information should be shortly forthcoming."

That would have been an excellent way to handle this and it would have prevented a lot of needless anguish for the families. But then hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?

 

[Miss Jasmine]

That would have been an excellent way to handle this and it would have prevented a lot of needless anguish for the families. But then hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?

This is how crisis communication is SUPPOSED to work. Obviously the company didn't feel the need to train for something like this. It's not about hindsight, it's about being prepared.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I've looked at reports from CNN, Fox, and AP and I haven't read any earlier statements from the mine company CEO where he asserted that they had been found alive. The closest I've seen are comments from some of the families that "They told us they were alive". I think it's likely that they are talking about the word that came out of the command center that the miners had been "found". I did find a quote from the CEO that 20 minutes after the rumors started that he knew they weren't fully correct, but he said he wanted a full accounting before any official word was given.

The mining company CEO had the responsibility to do whatever was necessary to squelch any unfounded rumors. His decision to wait for nearly 3 hours before issuing any statement at all was a terrible error in judgment. I don't think he was completely deaf and he certainly would have heard the church bells ringing which would have clued him in that untrue information was being distributed. He blew it, the governor blew it, the media blew it.

 

[Southern4sure]

Follow this link
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/04/mine.explosion.wed/index.html

As you read click on the link that says watch relatives weep over a miracle taken way. I think this short video says it all but watch it till the end. No you will not find a quote from any officials but it does shed some light on who told what.

 

[Laurabearz]

The coal in the mountains, has to be mined out by men. Did you know as early as 1990, they were still relying on parakeets to show if there was carbon minoxide in the shaft. Someone came up with a lantern invention that will determine if levels become to high, the latern will light up.

I just learned all this in March when we visited the Field Museum in Chicago.

There are machines that drill to the coal, but men still have to go down in the shafts to run the machines.

I know they have that exhbit at Museum of Science and Industry... didnt know the Field Musuem had it too....

Such a tragic event.

 

[Beth76]

I have not been watching this on tv at all. But, were the families "told" that they were "alive and well"? Is it possible that maybe one or two were alive when they were found, but subsequently passed during the rescue. I'm just thinking that even if they were told they were found alive, isn't still possible that some--if not all--would have serious (even life-threatening) injuries and therefore total jubilation was probably unjustified and premature.

 

[Southern4sure]

I have not been watching this on tv at all. But, were the families "told" that they were "alive and well"? Is it possible that maybe one or two were alive when they were found, but subsequently passed during the rescue. I'm just thinking that even if they were told they were found alive, isn't still possible that some--if not all--would have serious (even life-threatening) injuries and therefore total jubilation was probably unjustified and premature.

If you follow the link in my earlier post you will see the Hatfield (mining exec) gave specific detailed info about 12 being alive and were going to be brought to the church. Also, the Gov. told the families 12 were found alive.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

And the governor left the church with the families giving the media a big thumbs up and saying "believe in miracles." Not the wisest action or choice of words given that he later admitted that at that moment no one from his staff had actually confirmed that the 12 miners were actually found alive.

 

[cardaway]

Seeing that it got to the "believe in miracles" point is the most shocking to me.