Covering breaking news today can be like working without a safety net. In contrast to 10 or 20 years ago, reporters on the scene must act with good instincts because there is often no time to check with an editor or take the time to rewrite.
That was the case when covering the tragic and frightening events in our nation's capital Wednesday morning. On a day when our parliamentary reporters were covering the caucus meetings and preparing stories on security decisions arising from the Monday hit-and-run killing of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in Quebec, all hell broke loose just before 10 a.m.
Reporter Josh Wingrove was in a main hallway of the Centre Block of Parliament just outside a caucus room. He was filing, on his phone, a story about the Monday killing, earphones on, working quietly in an alcove in Parliament's Centre Block. He heard a loud bang and found himself in the middle of the biggest breaking news story of the year. Through it, he kept his head and his journalistic standards.
You've probably seen the video he shot on his phone of more than a dozen parliamentary guards and police officials walking with guns drawn, shouting at someone far down the Hall of Honour. Then you hear a single shot, and many in response.
He instantly tweeted at 9:54 a.m.: "Gunfire in pariament"; then "Shots fire in Centre block"; and "Dozens of shots in parliament. I see a bodyu on the ground outside the library of parliament." (sic)
He tweeted a photo of the scene (shortly before his video was uploaded); and he followed that with a description of the smell of gunpowder in the hallways. But then he also tweeted this: "I can't confirm if the body was dead or if it was the shooter or an officer."
It is very important and often difficult in such a high-pressure situation to keep your reporting to the facts, and not to speculate. Logic would suggest that, when you heard multiple shots, it was likely the shooter who was on the ground. But because Mr. Wingrove wasn't close enough to see for sure, and because he could not get confirmation from the police, what he did was the responsible thing to do: stick to the known facts.
While other media quoted tweets saying Corporal Nathan Cirillo had died, Globe writers and editors decided to wait until they had confirmed with two separate government sources directly. With so much information and misinformation floating around, this was a key decision: to wait for certainty.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, there were mistakes made during the day. Whenever you have breaking news, with hundreds of security people involved, fallible eyewitness accounts, and the very real fear of a second shooter, some incorrect information is published either on the website or on Twitter. Staff tweeted that there were reports of a shooter on a roof nearby when there wasn't one. They also repeated reports that there was a shooting at the Rideau Centre, which we now know to be untrue. Those types of errors were quickly corrected as new and updated information came in.
We've seen egregious errors with past breaking news events, especially in the United States, where there has sometimes been a rush to publish or broadcast before the facts are confirmed. Last year, the New York Post published a picture of two innocent bystanders at the bombings of the Boston Marathon, labelling them "bag men." This suggested that they were carrying the bombs, when they weren't even suspects. In 2012, there were many errors in the breaking news coverage of the Sandy Hook school shootings in Newtown, Conn. The most egregious were the media reports that said Ryan Lanza was the gunman, when it was his brother Adam.
The news media need to make every effort to be right even if it means not being first. Ten or 20 years ago, major errors might have been caught before the nightly deadline, although the New York Post didn't have that excuse. Today, on Twitter and in quick, breaking news files for online, any error can be instantly amplified, with all media watching the others for developments, and with many people retweeting and republishing information that could be wrong. The pull to be first is strong, but you must be correct. As a result, it is all the more important to keep your head and stick to the facts.
Sylvia Stead may be reached at publiceditor@globeandmail.com and @sylviastead on Twitter.