My plate is too full right now to read and comment in detail on the new NPR Ethics Handbook. But since I have blogged extensively on newsroom social media policies, including NPR’s earlier guidelines, I’ll point to some good pieces by friends at Poynter whose reporting and analysis I trust:
Archive for February 24th, 2012
Amtrak fatality in the middle of the night
Posted in Digital First Media on February 24, 2012| 4 Comments »
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Amtrak Train 177 stopped outside Aberdeen MD because of a fatality on board. Emergency crews en route.
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“Wow bummer! RT @stevebuttry Amtrak Train 177 stopped outside Aberdeen MD because of a fatality on board. Emergency crews en route.
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“All I know about “fatality” on Amtrak is what they announced (that was the word they used). All quiet on my car.
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“I can’t recall exact wording of announcement on Amtrak, but we’re not at a station. I wonder if they hit someone (didn’t feel it if so).
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“But why not get to station to allow easier access for emergency crews? RT @paulkuehnel most likely a sudden death like a heart attack
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“@stevebuttry perhaps they had intended to intercept with a medic unit along the way?
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“Lots of flashing red lights outside now w/ emergency crews here. At least 4-5 vehicles. I can’t see what’s going on.
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“Emergency vehicles are large & plentiful, maybe 4-5. I doubt this is a natural-causes death aboard the train.
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“If we were in an area a #DigitalFirst newsroom covers, I’d try to get out to play reporter, but I’ll just tweet from my seat. #amtrakfatal
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““@TheChalkOutline: @stevebuttry on Amtrak 177 listening to EMS radio, fatality was person hit by train. No trains thru here until 3 am.
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With the dark and the reflection, this is an awful photo, but red lights are red lights.
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Emergency vehicles responding to #Amtrakfatal near Aberdeen MD. http://twitpic.com/8nwro1
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“.@stevebuttry is providing great minute-by-minute tweets about a fatal amtrak incident in Md. I hope a news org. picks up the story soon.
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“@stevebuttry There was an Amtrak death yesterday and questions about their response. Hope they learned quick. washingtonpost.com/lifesty…
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“Emergency vehicles responding to #Amtrakfatal near Aberdeen MD. rightnow.io/breaking-news/… #Aberdeen via @stevebuttry
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“Emergency vehicles responding to #Amtrakfatal near Aberdeen MD. rightnow.io/breaking-news/… #Aberdeen via @stevebuttry
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“@stevebuttry Do a good job and we can do a blog on your work. #amtrakfatal
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Larry’s referring to my blog post about his live-tweeting of a breaking story. Larry’s a better cops reporter than I am. He’d have been off this train (he probably also has a media credential).
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I blogged about Andy’s use of Banjo on a breaking story. Alas, it did me no good tonight.
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“Mt @kspaetz @stevebuttry providing minute-by-minute tweets about a fatal amtrak incident in Md. I hope a news org. picks up the story soon
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“Thanks for update RT @Percivall “@TheChalkOutline: @stevebuttry on Amtrak 177 listening to EMS radio, fatality was person hit by train.
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“Follow @SteveButtry’s live report from an Amtrak train at scene where person killed by train.
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Hell, yes.
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“@stevebuttry I can visualize the train, the lights. Sounds like a scene from a movie.
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Well, not exactly “The Fugitive,” but more breaking news than I’ve covered in a while.
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“@stevebuttry Here’s the police, fire, EMS scanner for County you’re in: radioreference.com/apps/au… Audio only but it’s live. Bed for me. Good luck
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“@SethLavin Thanks, but I’m not getting any audio. It appears to be playing, though.
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“Conductor says it was a trespasser, not a passenger. No vehicle crossing nearby. Waiting for cops to clear the train to leave. #amtrakfatal
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“Conductor says it may be an hour or so before we can move. They’re offering complimentary coffee in cafe car. #amtrakfatal
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“Yep. RT @TheChalkOutline Your in the middle of a breaking news story, right?
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“His luck was worse than mine (unless it was suicide). RT @LarryAltman Sun says man hit by train. You have such bad luck travelling.
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“@stevebuttry This is far from the first fatality at that location: archives.exploreharford.co…
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“RT @kspaetz .@stevebuttry providing great minute-by-minute tweets about fatal amtrak incident in #Md. Hope news org. picks up the story soon
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“I may have wrong location of train. Twitter location search doesn’t even show my tweets. #amtrakfatal
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“@stevebuttry I actually mistakenly read an old story, but it seems to have happened again !
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“@stevebuttry No– thank you! Gives me a chance to imagine life had I not rebelled and become something other than a journalist (@fromcarl)
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“@stevebuttry And God forbid Amtrak have any kind of publicly available real-time geolocation for its trains.
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“@stevebuttry something came on Hardford scanner police free app channel about Amtrak but went dark
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“This is the first place Foursquare shows near the #amtrakfatal. (@ Adams Chevrolet) 4sq.com/xN9pus
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“@stevebuttry Interesting. Havre de Grace is north of Aberdeen, not far from Delaware line. Head of the Chesapeake Bay.
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“Of course not. RT @eclisham And God forbid Amtrak have any kind of publicly available real-time geolocation for its trains.
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“@stevebuttry BTW Wed, @TheChalkOutline @douglasmorino & I collaborated via Twitter on a Socal murder that ended with suspect suicide in Utah
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“I was dozing when the train hit the trespasser. I didn’t notice the stop being sudden. #amtrakfatal
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“@stevebuttry #DigitalFirst has a physical area of coverage? Perhaps the hashtag needs adjustment.
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“Lots of communities, none in MD. RT @josephjames #DigitalFirst has a physical area of coverage? Perhaps the hashtag needs adjustment.
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“@stevebuttry Good work sir. I’m more of a fan of #IfYoureNotDigitalFirstYoureLast but that’s lengthy. And © Ricky Bobby.
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“I see no emergency-vehicle lights now, but scanner says something about “we have Amtrak police.” #amtrakfatal
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“First I’ve heard of them, too. police.amtrak.com/ #amtrakfatal RT @Mia_Ria Amtrak police? What are those? Federal? Private?
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“@stevebuttry appears they’re trained at the federal academy and have national power but not necessarily a federal agency
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“@stevebuttry I think most rail lines have a police force. I’ve seen BNSF police cars in the Quad Cities.
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“@ER_DavidLittle Interesting on-the-scene tweeting of #amtrakfatal in Maryland by DFM’s @stevebuttry. He’s on the train. It’s a small world.
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“@stevebuttry As much as it sucks that you’re stuck there gotta give them props for keeping you informed.
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I agree on that. Took a while for the first announcement, but they have been pretty informative about this.
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“@stevebuttry just heard something about finding a scalp and a torso on scanner, unrelated most likely. But that’s my cue to leave
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“Am hearing lots of scanner talk now about cleaning stuff off tracks. Didn’t hear body-parts references @ivanlajara did, though. #amtrakfatal
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“Scanner traffic now is about access to move some cars, including an Amtrak car. There’s a creek in the way. I’m confused. #amtrakfatal
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“Announcement on train: “We had a fatality on the tracks. We struck a trespasser.” Estimated time of release about one hour. #amtrakfatal
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“I’m seeing some lights outside again, not red flashers, but some vehicles apparently belonging to investigators. #amtrakfatal
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“I’m glad I popped the extra $40 for biz class. I’m up front with a better view of activity outside the train. #amtrakfatal
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“@corybe @stevebuttry This happens all the time in the SF Bay Area. I’m told it usually doesn’t make the news. Rare on the east coast?
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“@ProducerMatthew @corybe It’s 2;26 a.m. & the train isn’t moving. So I tweet. I do this over flight delays when no one dies. #amtrakfatal
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“@stevebuttry @corybe True for SF too. How sad is it that, given its frequency, it only warrants a brief? 😦
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“Scanner traffic mentioned a news crew. Couldn’t tell if ABC or NBC (maybe neither). Will check to see if anyone’s covering. #amtrakfatal
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“It’s a big deal for me & the person they hit, but Amtrak had 97 fatalities last year thru November: safetydata.fra.dot.gov/Off…
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“Correction: Amtrak had 97 fatal accidents/incidents last year thru Nov., 107 total fatalities. #amtrakfatal
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“@stevebuttry It’s often a big deal for onboard staff, especially the engineer operating the train who had to witness the fatality.
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“@QuesoGuapo I can’t imagine how traumatic it would be to be the engineer, see the person on the tracks & be unable to stop. #amtrakfatal
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“@stevebuttry Neither can I. But it’s something an engineer may witness 3x over career (via Progressive Railroading). j.mp/zu8zXM
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“@QuesoGuapo I used to know an engineer who had experienced it a time or two. #amtrakfatal
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“@stevebuttry Ultimately, it’s a unfortunate situation for all. Thank you for your updates, especially at this late hour.
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“@QuesoGuapo Hey, what else am I gonna do? When I got on the train, I was feeling bad about Twitter silence the last couple days.
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“Scanning first-hand account/curation from @stevebuttry of an Amtrak fatality in last couple of hours. A good example for reporters to follow
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World’s worst twitpic, flashlights outside train. #amtrakfatal http://twitpic.com/8nxlxm
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“Train is moving! We are heading home again at last. Light rain. #amtrakfatal
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“Now I’m thinking of the family that learned tonight that their loved one died on the tracks. My ride home wasn’t so bad. #amtrakfatal
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As I was curating this (and continuing the live-tweeting, my colleague Ivan Lajara beat me to publishing by Storify. In my defense, I was live-tweeting as well as curating.
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Details are sketchy, as this is a developing story
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Ivan noted that we could collaborate (he understands Storify and lots of tools better than I do). But I decided to publish dueling accounts.
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“Damn! Was about to publish mine! RT @ivanlajara @Stevebuttry live-tweets an #Amtrakfatal accident sfy.co/bpj (done in ipad)
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“@stevebuttry I just found this out yesterday: I just gave you editing access to my account (I can revoke after you are done)
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“@ivanlajara Probably easier to just publish mine (shortly, adding links now). I’ll link to yours, curating your curation.
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