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Strategies & Market Trends : Piffer OT - And Other Assorted Nuts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patrick Slevin who wrote (62845)	12/29/2000 2:39:02 PM
From: arno	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 63513

Did you see this post concerning CNBC and the FOMC fiasco... #reply-15071372 CNBC senior business programming veep Bruno Cohen's memo to staff To: Business News Staff From: Bruno Cohen Date: 12/21/00 Re: FOMC Report CNBC Business News has a well deserved and hard earned reputation for its speed and accuracy. On Tuesday we failed to live up to that reputation. As you are all aware, we had a very serious on-air error when news of the FOMC decision broke at 2:15pm. Hampton Pearson, one of our most experienced financial journalists, incorrectly reported that the FOMC had not changed its bias when, in fact, it had. This is an assignment that Hampton has successfully handled many times before. Despite immediate corrections and clarifications by Hampton, Kathleen Hays, Ted David and others, the damage was done. We reported incorrect information at a critical moment on a crucial story that was affecting the markets in real-time. During the last two days our senior editors have carefully reviewed the process of receiving, confirming and reporting the FOMC releases. We will add support to that process to help insure this kind of error cannot be repeated. We will also apply what we have learned to other announcements of this type. There are several lessons in Tuesday's error that are important for everyone in the CNBC Business News organization. First, if it can happen to someone as experienced and diligent as Hampton, it can happen to anyone. Anyone. Each of you should pause and consider situations in which you could contribute to a mistake on the air. Consult with your colleagues and supervisors and be certain we have taken all reasonable actions to prevent errors. Second, although both speed and accuracy are priorities in financial journalism, be prepared to sacrifice speed for accuracy. Finally, if an error occurs, acknowledge it clearly and immediately. Then correct it clearly and immediately. Our on-air and production team did a great job of recognizing the error and getting the story correct. We can do an even better job of clarifying a potentially confusing situation for our viewers by making it clear that we at CNBC have made a mistake when we correct the record. Thank you for your close attention to this issue. Please contact me or your supervisor if you have any questions or suggestions. --Bruno poynter.org