Steve Jobs Had No Heart Attack...And Citizen Journalism Just Failed

Steve Jobs Had No Heart Attack...And Citizen Journalism Just Failed

What could possibly be bigger news than the supposed heart attack suffered by Apple CEO Steve Jobs? The fact that it's simply not true. The rumor which spread like wildfire across the internet this morning was based on a report from CNN's citizen journalism site, iReport.

According to citizen reporter, Johntw: "Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack." Apple quickly squashed the story, claiming it to be untrue. Did citizen journalism just fail us? You bet it did.

If Apple sues CNN’s iReport, it won’t be over the “i”

Speed may be the great advantage of citizen journalism, but today we saw its downside: inaccuracy. A report this morning on CNN’s iReport, its citizen journalism site, claimed that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs had been rushed to the ER after a severe heart attack. A huge story, with just one problem — it wasn’t true.

It looks as if the false iReport has been taken down by CNN now, but Silicon Alley Insider was able to grab it. It read as follows:

Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable. I haven’t seen anything about this anywhere else yet, and as of right now, I have no further information, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If anyone else has more information, please share it.

Katie Cotton, Apple’s vice president of worldwide communications was quick to issue a statement saying of the report, “it is not true.” That wasn’t fast enough to stop Apple’s stock from having a heart attack of its own unfortunately. The stock fell from around $105-a-share all the way down to $94-a-share within minutes.

When Apple’s denial came out, the stock shot right back up, but some people got a very good deal today. The SEC is looking into the issue...

Week In Review: Don't Believe Everything You Read On The Internet

Eric Krangel | October 4, 2008 6:00 AM

Apple CEO Steve Jobs did not, we repeat did NOT, suffer a heart attack. The rumor spread like wildfire on Twitter after a "citizen journalist" on CNN's iReport attributed an anonymous source. The SEC is investigating...