Jim Beam warehouse struck by lightning in Kentucky, resulting in bourbon-fueled firenado on lake

[Dave Gallaher]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ourbon-lake-catches-fire-struck-Firenado.html

 

[Dan Robinson]

Interesting video - but this story is a case study in journalism gone awry. This happened in 2003, yet all of the news media is gobbling this up as if it happened yesterday. Some say the lightning strike caused the spill, others say something else resulted in the spill, and the lightning simply ignited the fire. And of course, the "lightening" misspelling makes an appearance in several sources.

I did a Google search that excludes articles posted this year, and found the real story: the warehouse caught fire after a lightning strike. The fire caused the ensuing leak, which allowed the fire to spread into a pond and eventually to a nearby creek.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jim+beam+spill&safe=off&biw=1920&bih=933&source=lnt&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:8/2/20002,cd_max:8/20/2014&tbm=

http://enquirer.com/editions/2003/09/10/loc_kyfishkill10.html

It looks like the video of this incident was just released online this week, going viral and triggering the rush of poorly-researched news articles.

 

[Jeff Duda]

rush of poorly-researched news articles.

Seems like a lot of online media, especially the lesser-known outlets, have been going this way. Today the biggest thing in journalism is to be first to report something even if it's wrong.

 

[Greg Campbell]

'News' no longer has any meaning.

 

[Dave Gallaher]

Thanks, Dan, for pointing out what I failed to catch. I only checked the date at the top of the page. Agree with others' assessments regarding news these days.

 

[Taylor Wright]

Seems like a lot of online media, especially the lesser-known outlets, have been going this way. Today the biggest thing in journalism is to be first to report something even if it's wrong.

The sad thing is that this sort of journalism is most prevalent in social media, where people see it every day, sometimes multiple times throughout the day. The social media click bait fad has collectively lowered the standard of media coverage and, in my opinion, spreads ignorance like a wildfire.

 

[joel ewing]

'News' no longer has any meaning.

I would agree with you with these exceptions: News = indoctrination, deception, societal management.

 

[rdale]

True... I was one of many TV meteorologists who tried to indoctrinate an appreciation for science in the public. Some would call a bad forecast a form of deception - but that was rarely the case. And we absolutely did attempt societal management - when a tornado was imminent, people needed to heed our advice.

 

[Tim Paitz]

'News' no longer has any meaning.

Thank the "instant gratification" society for that. It's about "now now now" rather than waiting for the facts.