Filed under: Apple Corporate
Steve Jobs: Still Not Dead. Film at 11.
Bloomberg seems to be having an extremely slow news day. Its obituary update for Steve Jobs has turned awry. The obituary, a copy of which was sent to Gawker, contains a list of contacts that could be used for an extended story.
Soon after the obituary was published, Bloomberg issued the following retraction:
Story Referencing Apple Was Sent in Error by Bloomberg News
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) - An incomplete story referencing Apple
Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m.
New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and
has been retracted.
-Editor: Joe Winski, Cesca Antonelli
It should be noted that many major newspapers/magazines keep a preliminary obituary write-up for prominent public people. However, these reports are normally not published before someone actually dies. We can only guess that whomever published this article no longer has a job.Thanks for the tip, Adam!
[via CNET]
Update: Steve Jobs is still not dead. More as this story develops.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
RogerC said 10:38AM on 8-28-2008
The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
Mark Twain
Steve is in good company!
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Phlake said 10:41AM on 8-28-2008
I'm not dead yet! I'm feeling better...
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Sean Flanagan said 10:41AM on 8-28-2008
The next big product from Apple will be iBraaaaaiiiiiins
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Hickeroar said 10:45AM on 8-28-2008
It's worth noting that this is definitely not the first time this has happened. MSM has leaked a lot of obits before people actually died.
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JacklynH said 10:50AM on 8-28-2008
Just a grammatical note: "whomever published this article" should be "whoever published this article."
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David Emery said 10:50AM on 8-28-2008
"I'm not dead yet!" "I feel happy"
[queue the music from Spamalot...]
dave
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DSeaver said 11:18AM on 8-28-2008
It's originally from Monty Python and the Holy grail
Eddie said 10:50AM on 8-28-2008
In other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
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John said 11:18AM on 8-28-2008
And in tangentially related news, Abe Vigoda is still not dead.
http://www.abevigoda.com/ffb.php
David Chartier said 10:59AM on 8-28-2008
LOL'd at the "Update:" bit. Italics were a great touch.
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ismh said 11:02AM on 8-28-2008
it is very common for publications to hve hundreds of obits ready to go.
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Jake said 11:04AM on 8-28-2008
"We can only guess that whomever (sic) published this article no longer has a job."
And since Job's health directly affects the value of Apple stock, they will undoubtedly be investigated by the US SEC.
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Dan said 11:04AM on 8-28-2008
Steve was moved to a different hospital, where his condition was upgraded to... *alive*!
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wmd said 11:05AM on 8-28-2008
He/she may be fired, but they and their friends have a tidy sum from options on Apple's stock falling now...
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Jon Niola said 11:15AM on 8-28-2008
lol that's a terrible mistake to make.
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Evan Jones said 11:35AM on 8-28-2008
So call me a grumpy journalist, but was that one of the worst obits you've ever read?
It didn't flow, it felt like there were random paragraphs inserted in random places, I could go on.
In short, I expected something a little more polished or at-least cohesive.
That was barely better than (and I quote an obit that's come across my desk):
"The angel of the Lord swooped down and took" Steve Jobs "home today after long suffering and illness."
Gr.
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igotaniphone-woohoo! said 11:46AM on 8-28-2008
I'm sure it's not "polished" yet because it's wasn't meant to be published, (see UNFINISHED).
sigh.
Lars said 11:49AM on 8-28-2008
It's encredibly stupid, but a firing offense? Hardly. I work in journalism and when someone dies, people expect a fairly substantial obit in minutes, not hours.
You can't do this without working ahead (this is common in tv / print / online). These stories get filed more often than not straight in the content management system, undated for release when, well, the subject shakes off the mortal coil.
We don't know anything about the publishing system at Bloomberg - it could be a very human error that this got out.
You should look at Google News some times: one wrong key and empty pages, halfbaked articles and temporary headliners get pumped to all kinds of feeds.
So stupid: yes. Unfeeling: yes (but only because it's an obituary and reveals that the media prepares these things while people are alive).
Apologies: yes (and Bloomberg did apologize/retract, sorta). Should someone loose their job over it: no.
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iBearTouch said 12:07PM on 8-28-2008
Elvis has left the building... for good... but not Steve! Maybe if Steve starts eating some fried chitlins and grits...
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Jeff said 12:19PM on 8-28-2008
Well, as of noon ET, Apple stock is up (just slightly) so that's proof Steve is still alive.
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