BREAKING: The Sun Has Not Exploded


When publishing breaking news, all good editors should exercise a sense of urgency, while also preventing any cause for unnecessary alarm. This is particularly crucial when reporting news that the world is about to come to a sudden, apocalyptic end.

Just ask the Athens Banner-Herald, which on Monday fell “victim to miscue” after an emergency broadcast system notice mistakenly alerted readers that the sun had just exploded:

Erroneous news of the sun’s explosion gave way to one of the best breaking news retractions we’ve seen in awhile: “To our knowledge, the sun has not exploded,” the paper’s director of digital wrote in a post.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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