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The uber-fast, trends-based news cycle has claimed another victim- to a degree- as an online web show’s partnership with major network CBS was severed after the property was a bit too quick to jump on a bit of spurious news before properly confirming the story.
What’s Trending with Shira Lazar was defriended by CBS on September 10th, one day after the show’s official Twitter rapidly re-tweeted a Steve Jobs death hoax perpetuated on Twitter. The show was quick to correct its mistake with the following tweet:
“On behalf of all of us at @disruptgroup we sincerely apologize for the inaccuracy that was tweeted earlier today.-EP/ Host@WhatsTrending.”
CBSNews.com, however- after wrongfully being pegged for spreading the news- did not seem to be moved by the (misspelled) retraction. On Tuesday’s episode of What’s Trending, Lazar addressed the issue briefly, indicating that a junior staffer had retweeted the information without properly fact checking it, and that the show “loves” Steve Jobs. Lazar offered apologies to all wounded parties in the clip, embedded below and beginning at the 2:20 mark, and said:
“The tweet was retracted in less than a minute and a hastily written apology was issued by us and our distributor, followed a bit later by a more formal apology. Unfortunately by then, the original tweet had already made its way around the Internet and who did it, or how it happened, no longer mattered.”
Neither Lazar nor Disrupt Group have since commented on the brouhaha, and all references to the show were scrubbed from CBSNews.com by Tuesday.
