CNN and Fox had a “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment Thursday morning when they first reported that the Supreme Court had deemed Obamacare unconstitutional. CNN issued a breaking news alert and nine minutes later offered a correction. “In his opinion, Chief Justice Roberts initially said that the individual mandate was not a valid exercise of Congressional power under the Commerce Clause,” a statement from the network read. “CNN reported that fact, but then wrongly reported that therefore the court struck down the mandate as unconstitutional. However, that was not the whole of the Court’s ruling.”
Fox News Channel’s chyron also called Obamacare unconstitutional. Even President Obama, who was watching both Fox News and CNN, first thought the court had struck it down, according to Jake Tapper.
Photo journalist Gary He quickly created a Photoshop spoof of President Obama, looking very much the part of Harry Truman, holding up an iPad with CNN’s botched headline.
At the Associated Press, staffers were ordered to stop making fun of the folks at CNN and other news organizations for getting it wrong. “Please, immediately, stop taunting on social networks about CNN and others’ SCOTUS ruling mistake and the AP getting it right,” wrote the AP’s David Scott, according to Jim Romenesko. “That’s not the impression we want to reflect as an organization. Let our reporting take the lead.”
