Bloomberg publishes Jobs obit but why?
Summary: Bloomberg published an obituary for Apple CEO Steve Jobs after the closing bell on Wednesday and quickly retracted it. Amid all the rumors of Jobs' and his pancreatic cancer Bloomberg's timing couldn't have been worse.
Bloomberg published an obituary for Apple CEO Steve Jobs after the closing bell on Wednesday and quickly retracted it. Amid all the rumors of Jobs' and his pancreatic cancer Bloomberg's timing couldn't have been worse. However, the Bloomberg incident may reveal that rumors about Jobs' health are intensifying.
According to Gawker, Bloomberg published a 17-page obit for Jobs and a reader plucked it off of the terminal and sent it to the site. The report never made it online, but was transmitted over the Bloomberg terminal. Bloomberg is primarily transmitted to trading outfits and elsewhere via pricey terminals that are quite addictive to financial types.
Here's a partial screengrab from Gawker, which has the full obit and sources for reporters.
Pre-written obits are nothing new in journalism. There are probably pre-fab obits flying around many newsrooms. The larger question is why was Bloomberg trigger happy on Wednesday?
My hunch: Bloomberg decided to update the obit after hearing the latest round of rumors. How do I know? I've been hearing them too, but they are largely unsubstantiated. However, the drumbeat about Jobs' health is picking up and it's not just from quick trigger traders. All eyes will be on Jobs and whether he shows at Apple's alleged September event to roll out new Macs and/or iPods. Until then--or Apple and Jobs outline something better than it did for the New York Times--the rumor mill will continue to churn.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
Talkback
re: Bloomberg publishes Jobs obit but why?
There's another thing I didn't know. And fairly depressing to think people write this stuff up waiting for someone to die.
It's not just written obit either ...
Famous example - Queen Elizabeth II ... she's still going stong yet her obits have been flying around for decades.
Well...
Well, I guess I don't have to worry about that happening to me then. Wait... let me double-check that with my wife.
It avoids goofs
be careful and get the facts right. When
things are rushed, there's more chance
for mistakes.
If a guy die, the media then only have to
plug in the time, cause of death and
place of death.
That's important because, with
newspapers you have deadlines and, if
the guy dies near deadline, you want to
get it in. Writing a whole obit might
miss deadline. For broadcast, you want
to be "first to air" with the news and
background. Web publishing is similar
to TV in that time constraint.
Goofs? Like whether he actually died or not?
Like whether he actually died or not?
Not exactly a minor detail to miss.
"Writing a whole obit might miss deadline. For broadcast, you want to be 'first to air' with the news and background."
Yeah, that pretty much describes what's wrong with today's media in a nutshell. Push the news out fast, pick the pieces up later. There's nothing careful about it, no matter how much you plan it in advance.
There is no way on this earth this is being "careful." Pushing a deadline is being sloppy. Being careful would be forgetting the "deadline" and checking your facts before you publish.
Would it really be such a horrible thing if they cared a bit more about getting their facts right rather than getting the story out first? Would it really hurt their ratings so much if they demonstrated that they care about quality?
George Burns and Bob Hope
RE: Bloomberg publishes Jobs obit but why?
Unfortunately, of all the cancers pancreatic is one of the deadliest (if not at the top of the list). If I recall correctly only 5% hit the 5 year survival mark, and even after that the numbers are not encouraging.
Physical appearance unfortunately can belay actual health. For those that saw Randy Pausch's 'Last Lecture' (and who did not), he looked healthy as an ox.
And don't forget Gene Upshaw -
Nope, pancreatic cancer is no piker - you have to really toe the line, although I understand that Jobs has one of the less deadly types of pancreatic cancers.
RE: Bloomberg publishes Jobs obit but why?
RE: Bloomberg publishes Jobs obit but why?