Now they are saying Nancy Lanza did not work at that school.

[proud2BlibKansan]

So much misinformation.

At least one parent said Lanza's mother was a substitute teacher there. But her name did not appear on a staff list. And the official said investigators were unable to establish any connection so far between her and the school.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/14/3965786/school-shooting-reported-in-newtown.html#storylink=cpy

[seabeyond]

1. this has been one of the worst i have seen with misinformation. nt

[LisaLynne]

3. I agree.

It's been appalling. I know everyone wanted information, but bad info is worse than no info. Our journalists need to learn this apparently.

[Bjorn Against]

8. It seems there is always a lot of misinformation when there are mass shootings

In the chaos of a shooting scene there are always a lot of rumors flying some of which are true and some of which are false, the media really needs to do a better job of holding back on reporting information until they know it is accurate.

I feel sorry for the brother of the shooter, not only did he lose his family but he was fingered as the perpetrator when he does not seem to have any role in the shootings at all. The media bringing his name into the story will likely ruin his life.

[CBHagman]

16. It's true of every developing story.

Is the 24/7 news cycle and the cellphone photo culture skewing people's view of reality? People seem surprised that reporters or officials get the details incorrect during the first hours, days, or even months after a tragedy occurs. Reality is that we learn as we go along and look at the available sources.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. It's understandable.

It was a horrific tragedy. And misinformation is common when tragedies like this happen. I saw the guy who wrote the book Columbine on Chris Hayes this morning. He said most of what we have all assumed about that tragedy is false. The killers weren't goth kids, they weren't bullied and they didn't target the athletes at the school. I had no idea. Now I want to read that book.

[HappyMe]

17. I agree.

I would rather they waited to check and recheck facts than just put something out there.

[Little Star]

2. I had read earlier, that she use to work there full time...

Then a couple of years ago she left that job to be home with her son. Maybe she still sub'd there tho.

[Ilsa]

6. If she left her job to be available for her son,

he must have been more ill and/or disabled than most of us could imagine.

I wonder if his father was involved in his life.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. The district would know her if that was the case.

Apparently they did not know her.

[PoliticAverse]

4. "So much misinformation." - Indeed, so much of the story has been changing. n/t

[Fumesucker]

5. I read that yesterday sometime in the afternoon or evening n/t

[riverwalker]

7. she did volunteer work there

she recieved a generous alimony, $260,000 per year. She did not have to work. I don't have the link to the article, sorry, I will try to find it again. Ex-husband was very generous and provided beyond what the settlement dictated. They had an amicable divorce.

Edit: Heres the article
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/adam-lanza-20-deeply-disturbed-kid-article-1.1220752

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Volunteers are screened. She would have appeared on a volunteer list.

It's a state law where I teach and I would imagine most states have similar laws. You can't just walk into a school and volunteer anymore. They do a background check (some districts make you pay for it) and you are given an ID and the school is notified you have been cleared and can volunteer.

So she would have been on a list. The district says she wasn't.

[Jennicut]

19. I don't know, I volunteer at my daughter's school in Connecticut

and we don't have to have ID's at all. You do need to be screened and finger printed to be a sub, which I also do in CT.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Probably because you're a parent.

They know you.

And it could be that CT doesn't have this requirement yet. But I suspect that's going to change.....

[ananda]

10. Yeah, I read that she was a volunteer TA for the kindergarten class.

She probably didn't go there every day, but some of the time to help the teachers out.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I read that too. But I don't think that is true.

[tawadi]

13. They tried to cover their asses by saying she was a volunteer

I doubt that's true either. They don't even attempt to verify information these days.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. I don't get it. Whose ass is being covered?

Is it less tragic if she DID work there?

[etherealtruth]

28. That has been my thought?

Had she been a teacher .... what difference does it make? She is dead, children are dead, teachers are dead

It is horrific, there was a slaughter of innocents ...

[Dash87]

18. There's such an obsession with being first in our news media.

Tweets, word of mouth, anything is fair game. No fact checking is done at all.

This was also a problem during Hurricane Sandy. They'll report anything they hear.

[TwilightGardener]

21. The media looks up Facebook and Twitter first now for info.

Instead of real journalism. Lazy asses.

[TwilightGardener]

20. This has been the most mismanaged story I've ever followed--

I realize that sometimes facts are wrong at first, but they got almost nothing right: The ID of the shooter, the number of shooters (intial reports said there were two), that his mother taught there and was gunned down in her classroom, that his father was dead at home, that the shooter had a girlfriend who was missing/unaccounted for, now she's not a teacher at all... The incompetence of the media (and intial police work) is stunning.

[Mc Mike]

24. Sea of red herrings. nt

[underpants]

25. Yes the media has actually topped themselves after completely missing the election

notice that on 9/11 all the news TV chiefs got on a conference call and agreed to "no scoops" they shared info...and they told Fox News to STOP SHOWING THE JUMPERS FOR GOD'S SAKE

[TwilightGardener]

27. Yes--things have certainly degraded in a decade.

[allrevvedup]

22. There appears to be a problem in the motive department.

I'd be interested in knowing how the "mother's beloved students" story caught on and why no one corrected the record yesterday, for example, after NPR interviewed a witness, second-grade teacher Abby Clements, at length, and replayed excerpts of the interview several times an hour. Highlights included the story of the open intercom relaying the shots and screams, "and there were a lot of gunshots." Here's a link to the original 14 minute KPCC phone interview:

http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2012/12/14/29703/26-reported-dead-including-children-in-connecticut/

The interviewer asks Clements about Lanza around 6:00, and she says she doesn't recognize the name, "but we're all trying to figure out what happened," and the interviewer simply moves on.

[CincyDem]

26. This sounds like...

..."it was an unorganized protest over a controversial movie"...no wait..."it was a coordinated attack on our embassy"...no wait..."it was confusing and in the first 24 hours we didn't really know what was going on".

My point is that we dumped Susan Rice because she didn't have 100% of the facts correct in the 24 hours following an event that happened half way around the world. Yet here we sit with a horrid, gut-wrenching example of just how hard it is to get all the facts 100% correct in the early moments of confusion.

Maybe McLame and Lindsey should launch an investigation in to this. I'm sure their NRA handlers would love that it would redirect the public conversation away from the truth...the NRA, as with may right wing extremist groups, is "on the wrong side of history" and must go.