On Sunday afternoon, a friend sent me an article about how a massacre at the All-Star game was averted by a hotel maid.

That sounded pretty shocking, so the first thing I did was dig deeper:

The headline

“Hotel Maid Thwarts Potential Major League Baseball All-Star Game Massacre” by Bruce Haring on Deadline.com¹

Haring wrote that police recovered over a dozen firearms and a thousand rounds of ammunition “from a hotel near Coors Field in Denver, Colorado” and that a housekeeper informed the police of the cache. In the article, Haring cited Denver’s Channel 7 News and included a link to their article, “4 arrested at Maven Hotel, police feared a ‘Las Vegas-style shooting’ during All-Star Game in Denver.”

What other articles had to say

Anytime someone sends me a news article about something sensational, I always follow up by searching for other articles about the topic. I’m not saying that I believe in fake news or that the mainstream media can’t be trusted. The problem is that news is always evolving, and better information usually becomes available later.

After doing a quick Google search, I found this article: “FBI: Maven Hotel arrest not linked to terrorism or threat to public.” ESPN noted that Fox 31-Denver reported on Friday night that the police didn’t feel that the incident was related to the All-Star Game.

When something like a potential mass shooting is possible, it’s really easy to jump to conclusions. It’s important to remember that news is something that evolves. It takes time to get the facts.

> News is that part of communication that keeps us informed of the changing events, issues, and characters in the world outside. Though it may be interesting or even entertaining, the foremost value of news is as a utility to empower the informed.

As the American Press Institute pointed out, journalists help keep us informed of changing events. So, you have to expect that conclusions about what is going on in an event will change as we get more information. Which is why it’s important to get different sources and stay up-to-date on the developments in a story.

Key Takeaways

• When you see an article about something that is sensational or is breaking news, look for more information to confirm the facts.
• The news introduces you to developing events. It’s your job to stay on top of the events to find out what the confirmed details are.
• Never rely on the first few days of reporting when there’s a criminal investigation involved.

1. Dear Reader: The headline and screenshot are from 2:30 PM ET on Sunday, July 11th, 2021. There’s a good chance that it will be corrected by the time you’re reading this. Well, at least I hope it will be corrected by then… ↩