It's time to tone it down guys. You weren't there and neither was I.
Reporters are exactly that, reporters. They weren't there, and they are simply reporting what they have been told by the AHJ controlling the scene and "eyewitnesses" of the event. The first line in any news story should contain the 5Ws: Who; What; Where; When; and Why. It is a report, Nothing more and nothing less. The rest of the story should be the accounts obtained by AHJ and primary sources, i.e. folks witnessing the incident.
You should understand that when an accident is reported, most of the primary source information is not correct. That's why accident investigations are conducted, and that takes time but it is how we learn what happened. The German Wings airliner crash in France is a perfect example of a story constantly changing as more facts are found by the investigators.
For example look at this report of the accident.
https://abc7.com/news/1-dead-1-injured-after-explosion-at-thousand-oaks-elementary-school/1276558/ It is a 100% factual report by the reporter even though there are preliminary conclusions from interviewed individual that may not be correct.
Headline: "1 dead, 1 injured after explosion at Thousand Oaks elementary school" - totally factual.
First sentence: "One person was killed and another injured after an explosion in Thousand Oaks on Monday, according to Ventura County fire officials." - Totally factual.
"Authorities said a hobby rocket exploded at about 7:35 p.m. on the basketball courts at Madrona Elementary School near Lynn Road and Camino Manzanas." - factual reporting, but premature conclusion presented by the AHJ possibly due to "eyewitness" statement.
"The Ventura County Sheriff's Department said an 18-year-old man was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later succumbed to his injuries." - factual reporting
"A 17-year-old male was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, deputies said." - factual reporting
"The victims were making rockets when the explosion occurred, according to fire officials. A nurse at the scene was able to start treatment immediately while EMS crews headed to the school." - factual reporting, but premature conclusion presented by the AHJ possibly due to "eyewitness" statement.
"A meeting was being held at the school for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts at the time of the explosion." - factual reporting
""Nobody could really discern what it really was because it was a huge explosion. It was just all at once. Just a 'boom!' Then that was it," Tammy Coburn, who was in the meeting, explained." - factual reporting
"A Girl Scout leader who was a former military member recognized the sound and went to investigate what happened." - factual reporting
"He quietly stepped out of the meeting, closed the door and went out," Coburn said. "He's the one that came upon the boys and then got the emergency help from a Girl Scout nurse." - factual reporting
"ABC7 learned the victims were seniors at Thousand Oaks High School and honor students." - factual reporting
""They're AP and honor students. Amazing, brilliant kids. That's why it's like, 'How could this have happened to them?' Because they're brilliant. They would've thought everything out. They would have put this all together the right way. So this was just a horrible, tragic accident," Coburn said." - factual reporting, but the person interviewed makes statements that portray an emotional response which ignore what happened.
TRF editorial comment: Doesn't the above response echo what the Admins get from some TRF members when we curtail discussions of amateur motor making by inexperienced teens on the public forums ????? Now you know why we do this........
"The identities of the injured were not immediately released. Ventura County sheriff's officials were investigating the incident." - factual reporting
"Because of the investigation, Madrona Elementary School was set to be closed on Tuesday." - factual reporting
So read news reports carefully before you draw any conclusions and complain about poor reporting.
Bob
