| Erroneous news alert of bus crash on WGEM-TV part of system training exercise |
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Published: 12/1/2008 | Updated: 1/23/2009
An erroneous news alert that appeared briefly on WGEM-TV Monday afternoon, informing viewers of a bus crash involving more than 100 students, was part of a system training exercise at the television station.
A “crawl” that appeared on the bottom of the TV screen during the 3-4 p.m. broadcast of “Judge Judy” said that a Quincy School District bus was involved in an accident along Ill. 57 and that 127 students were on the bus.
The crawl was removed shortly after it appeared on screen, but not before WGEM and the Quincy School Board office received several calls from viewers asking for more information about the crash.
“There was training going on for personnel on the use of technology that allows us to inform our viewers of what’s happening for things like weather alerts and school closings,” said Carlos Fernandez, vice president and general manager of WGEM. “There was an example sentence that had been written by a member of the training staff, and unfortunately, it was never meant to get on the air.
“We had unplugged the system from our equipment, but apparently we didn’t unplug the digital signal and (the crawl) ran on our digital transmitter.”
Another crawl appeared on screen later Monday afternoon explaining the incorrect message and apologizing for “any confusion or concern this technical error may have caused.” A mention of the error also was made during the Monday night newscasts.
Fernandez said most of the 104,500 households that WGEM reaches receives the digital signal. He said he didn’t know how many times the erroneous message appeared on the air.
“All we’re trying to do is go through the (testing) process, but this was a very poor choice of words selected to do this,” he said.
Fernandez said the WGEM newsroom received five calls about the alert.
Larissa Brady, who operates the switchboard at the Quincy School District offices at 1444 Maine, said she received “probably close to 50” calls about the incident.
“Shane Barnes (director of transportation for the school district) called me as soon as he got word of it and said, ‘I am 99 percent sure that’s not ours, but I want to go make sure,’ ” Brady said. “Then I got a call from Patrice (Jordan, news director at WGEM) and she said, ‘There’s been a terrible mistake.’ I was thankful that they called.
“I didn’t get anyone who was hysterical or anything like that. I understand that people can get very confused in a situation like that.”
A national emergency alert announced on television and radio stations throughout Illinois on June 26, 2007, was the result of a human error in Washington, D.C. Four alerts were heard between 7:30 and 8:10 a.m. from the National Emergency Alert System, which originates its signal with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency in Springfield. A satellite warning system test was accidentally sent to broadcast stations.
— dadam@whig.com/221-3376
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