It's never good to get it wrong.
But, that is exactly what happened Wednesday to news organizations across the country, including KARE 11, when they reported the death of former Vikings safety, 37-year-old Orlando Thomas.
"I don't think the public expects infallibility, but they do expect us to say when we are wrong," media ethicist Jane Kirtley said.
The source of the information on Thomas was reliable.
It was, in fact, his old team, the Minnesota Vikings.
"I cannot fault the media for relying initially on the Vikings; presumably they know what is happening with their players," Kirtley said.
The Vikings' public relations director Bob Hagan claims the organization was told by a friend of Thomas' from his alma mater, the University of Southwestern Louisiana.
When asked if anyone from the Vikings called Thomas' home to confirm the death, Hagan said he didn't know.
"What is classic about this is that the old fashioned reporting of picking up the phone and calling someone who might actually know seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle," Kirtley said.
The Vikings posted the news first on its website.
KARE 11 picked it up and ran it Wednesday during the 5pm and 6pm newscasts.
The Star Tribune and Associated Press ran it too.
KFAN devoted afternoon drive time to eulogize Thomas.
The truth only began to spill out when Thomas' former Vikings teammate Jake Reed started posting on his Twitter page that Thomas was alive.
Reed even sent his message directly to the Vikings and the Star Tribune asking them to retract the story that Thomas had died.
The Vikings' apology and explanation was posted on the team's official Web site late Wednesday.
"We are thankful that this report was inaccurate and he and his family continue to be in our thoughts," the statement read. "We regret the inaccurate report and send our sincere apologies to Orlando and his family."
"Somebody put something on a MySpace page or something like that and it traveled, but it's not true," said Thomas' Chicago-based agent, Mark Bartelstein.
Bartelstein spoke with Thomas' daughter, who confirmed he was alive. Bartelstein said Thomas was watching basketball with his family Wednesday evening.
"He's fighting like heck, and he's alive and well," Bartelstein said.
Thomas, now 37, began feeling symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2004, and the disease was diagnosed in 2007. He's no longer able to speak. He lives in Lafayette, La.
"He's the greatest fighter I've ever known," Bartelstein said. "It's a daily, daily battle that he fights, but he's fighting it."
Thomas was a hard hitter who had 22 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries for the Vikings from 1995-2001. He was drafted in the second round out of Southwest Louisiana, the school now known as Louisiana-Lafayette.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
