As I've said before, there have been only a handful of news events that qualify as "I'll always remember where I was at" moments. The Boston Marathon bombings became one of those events because of the fluidity of the situation. This was the first gargantuan story to be covered instantaneously by social media innovations like twitter and Facebook, putting pressure on newspapers and networks to be the first to break news. The "be first before being correct" mindset led to a number of blunders, most notably the New York Post's decision to accuse two "bag boys" as responsible for the horrific bombings, and then to publish a picture of them on their front page. The Post's claim, of course, was completely erroneous, as the men pictured had nothing to do with the act of terror.
Perhaps not as egregiously off the mark, CNN's continuous coverage of the Boston manhunt nevertheless drew criticism and ridicule, most memorably by Comedy Central's Jon Stewart in this piece of work.
It's safe to say that CNN will follow the other major networks' suit in the future by having an anchor live in the studio to quarterback the coverage of breaking news, no matter how loud "canine dogs" are barking.
The instant news era is fully upon us. Reporters are breaking stories at a rate that continues to accelerate. Just be sure to verify before hitting the "tweet" button.
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