[b]TV Networks Scramble to Cover Ill Pope
43 minutes ago
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK - Fox News Channel erroneously reported the death of Pope John Paul II on Friday afternoon, backpedaled several minutes later, then apologized to viewers for the mistake.
Television networks were marshaling resources and dealing with conflicting reports as the pope's illness took a turn for the worse Friday, maintaining an electronic vigil like the Roman Catholic faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Viewers could be forgiven for confusion as the cable news networks flashed reports at them. At 12:30 p.m. EST, MSNBC posted the words "Pope lost consciousness" on its screen. At the same moment, CNN was reporting: "Pope visibly joining in prayers of those around him."
But at 1:23 p.m., Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith reported that the pope had died. At least initially, he did not cite sources.
By 1:30 p.m., Fox reporter Greg Palkot in Rome was sending signals of caution, saying the report had not been confirmed and the network was checking into it. "The exact time of death, I think, is not something that matters so much at this moment for we will be reliving John Paul's life for many days and weeks and even years and decades and centuries to come," Smith said.
Smith explained to viewers that a Fox sister company in Italy had been listening to an inaccurate report and it was transmitted to Fox. Fox spokeswoman Irena Briganti said a Fox producer, monitoring a translation of reports from Italian media, erroneously shouted that the pope had died and it had gotten on the air through an open mike. Smith was responding to the producer's words.
About 1:55 p.m., Smith apologized to Fox viewers for the initial unsubstantiated report. "By way of explanation, I am very sorry," Smith said. "That's all I can say."
About five minutes after Fox's report, CNN reported that there were conflicting news agency reports about whether the pope was still alive. One of its Vatican reporters, Delia Gallagher, said CNN had no independent confirmation and "we have to be very careful."
The Associated Press sent an advisory to its members at 1:31 p.m. that some Italian media were reporting the pope was dead and that the AP was trying to verify the reports. At 1:55 p.m., the AP sent a NewsAlert that the Vatican had denied he was dead. "There are a lot of conflicting reports over there and we apologize for the confusion," CNN's Miles O'Brien told viewers.
NBC News aired a special report around noon saying the pope was gravely ill, but for the most part the broadcast networks were on standby. NBC's Brian Williams stayed in the network studio for most of the day, ready to go on the air at a moment's notice with a special report.
NBC's Matt Lauer made it to Rome to anchor the "Today" show on Friday morning. Other network correspondents were either there or en route: ABC's George Stephanopoulos and CBS' John Roberts. NBC said Williams will also be heading to Vatican City.
Television networks have been preparing for this story behind the scenes for years, renting apartments and space on roofs overlooking St. Peter's Square so their anchors and reporters will have backdrops for the story. They were starting to use some of that space on Friday.
Almost forgotten by the cable news networks was the story to which they had devoted most of their airtime for the past two weeks: Terri Schiavo, who died on Thursday.
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