Hey CBS TV News - the Netherlands lost - Real-time #FAIL

As I write this blog post it is 15 hours since Spain won the FIFA World Cup.

Yet the CBS Television News site has this story on the site

The Netherlands Win World Cup

As I write this, the story has been tweeted more than 1,400 times since posted.

That the story, which is in draft mode, was sent in error is not all that unusual. These things happen. I recall about ten years ago the horror of accidentally sending a draft press release to the wires. Ugh. But they are usually spotted immediately and deleted.

In this case it has not been noticed by anyone at CBS News for ages – 15 hours on the real-time Web is an eternity in dog years.

My guess is that nobody at CBS News is monitoring Twitter in real-time or they would have seen all the tweets.

Thanks to my friend Remco Janssen, who lives in Amsterdam, for alerting us to this. He says it's fast becoming a trending topic in NL. (Remco, as you know, being part Dutch, I was rooting for NL. Too bad...)

In case the story is deleted, here is a screen shot and the text of the story.

The Netherlands Win World Cup

The Netherlands Wins First World Cup and Ends 22-Year Streak Without a Title of Any Kind

JOHANNESBURG, July 11, 2010 (CBS/ AP) The Netherlands defeated Spain by a score of SCORE to SCORE to win its first World Cup title.

Even with Spain dominating possession, it was the Netherlands that had the best chance to score after 75 minutes of Sunday's foul-filled World Cup final.

Arjen Robben took a through ball from playmaker Wesley Sneijder and went one-on-one with goalkeeper Iker Casillas, but his 62nd-minute shot was kicked out for a corner by Casillas' right foot.

Before that, it was Spain that had the best chances to take the lead and win their first World Cup.

Defender Sergio Ramos sent a header from Xavi Hernandez's cross on target, but goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg made the save in the fifth minute. Spain striker David Villa's left-foot volley from Xabi Alonso's cross then hit the side-netting in the 12th.

Spain ended a 44-year barren spell when it won the 2008 European Championship and can become only the third team to be world and European champion at the same time.

Spain's exquisite talent is reminiscent of that of the Dutch when "Total Football" carried them to the 1974 and '78 finals.

Comments

[Mike July]

A few years back a local prominent journalist reported falsely that a couple of MSU alums attended a basketball game. It turned out that they were supposed to attend, but for whatever reason they did not. The article, written in advance of the actual event, was never corrected before publication.

The writer took a lot of heat for it and almost resigned. The thing is, it was just a faulty detail in an otherwise factually accurate story. Yet he was nearly ostracized for it.

We'll have to wait and see if CBS News loses any credibility over this.

[Raj Khera]

David, what's interesting is that it looks like CBS used their CMS to edit the story now to read that Spain indeed won.

However, they left the tweet count, digg count, and comments up from the earlier version. So, when you read the comments on what is now the correct story, you see people reacting to their mistaken post, http://www.cbsnews.com/8601-500290_162-6668199.html?assetTypeId=30&tag=contentBody;commentsStandAlone

Someone over at CBS still doesn't get it :-(

[Remco Janssen]

Hi David, great post. Thanks! What worries me also is that CBS has no intention of ever saying sorry for their mistake. I mean, I guess over one million (rough estimate, but hey, someone has to do it ;-) people viewed this article. If not more.

Make mistakes well. I guess that doesn't count for CBS. I find that an appallingly arrogant behaviour of a trusted news organization. There is no excuses for that, don't you think?

[Simon Croft]

Oh the power of social media, if this had been at the last world cup it probably wouldn't have been as much of an issue.

I agree with Remco though, it does show the arrogance and their holier than tho attitude. God forbid, they could even use it as a bit of humor and show their lighter side (if indeed they have one).

[David Meerman Scott]

Simon & Remco - Yeah, they could have used the opportunity to laugh at themselves. But it seems they just completely ignored the gaffe.

My guess is the bosses don't follow social networking and the staffers just didn't want to take responsibility.

[Janeile]

Is there any wonder why I have a hard time saying "trusted" and "news source" in the same sentence?

[culture news]

The writer took a lot of heat for it and almost resigned. The thing is, it was just a faulty detail in an otherwise factually accurate story. Yet he was nearly ostracized for it.