STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

nicoley · Coach

West Virginia Mining Tragedy

Tara · Dooney & Bourke

Nicoley, I am so glad you posted something about this! Being from southwestern PA (aka coal mining country), this tragedy is really hitting close to home. Both my maternal and paternal grandfathers were miners, my cousin was killed in a mine fire when I was a child, and my brother works as an engineer for a mining company.

Even in today's technologically advanced age, miners face daily horrors such as no bathroroms underground (and some staying underground for a whole 8 hour or more shift), working in standing water, the obvious danger, etc. I could not even begin to imagine working under these conditions. I have the utmost respect for the men/women who subject themselves to these horrors everyday to support their families.

-- Edited by Tara at 15:39, 2006-01-06

bex · Chanel

I went to college 20 minutes from the Sago mine. I actually had no idea that it was even there until the tragedy occured and I saw all the landmarks from the area.

It was a terrible tragedy. Did you see where the men had written notes to their families and put them in their lunch boxes?

asf · Kate Spade

i think that what makes this even more horrible were the erroneous reports that the 12 miners had been found alive! i mean, after they've spent 30+ hours trapped in a mine, i'd imagine that you start to think that the chances for your loved one's survival are pretty slim, so to hear that they were all okay and then - oh wait, just kidding, they're all dead but one, oops!

not that the event itself isn't horrible, but i think that really would've put me over the edge.

Christine · Coach

bex wrote:

Did you see where the men had written notes to their families and put them in their lunch boxes?

Bex, can you please tell me more about this? I'm interested to hear about these notes.

It is heartwrenching in and of itself, but then to add the false news that they were all alive except for one.... I know it was not intentional but it's like toying with people's deepest emotions.

nicoley · Coach

On Primetime last night they showed some of the letters the miners wrote before they died to their families. The families that spoke on primetime did not want to read word for word the letters but they did say that the men said they were Ok, were not in pain, and that they love their family and will miss them.... or something to that effect. Also said something like it wasn't bad, i just went to sleep.

Listening to the families tell about the letters was so sad. Its hard to believe that these people could write these letters and they knew they were going to do, could you imagine how hard that must have been. All of the families stories were unique in their own right and so tragic.

Ive just come back to pittsburgh for the weekend, and since the only survivor is in a pitt hospital, I think we are getting alot more personal information from the families, because they dont want to talk about it on national tv.

Also, I didn't realize this, but over 100,000 miners have died over the years from mining disasters, that is just amazinig to me. Also, did you know that the owner of this mining company, the billionaire, is not giving any of his own money to the families!! And the company as a whole has started a fund for the families and only giving 2 million right now!!! 2 million among 13 miners is like nothing! I am so upset at the owner and the way he has handled this. He is a billionaire and the families that lost there loved ones are devestated both emotionally and eventually financially because the men seem to be the ones that were earning the money.

Tara: Wow, this mining disaster really did hit home for you... what does your brother think of all of this?

erin · Chanel

i've been following this story closely..it makes me so upset thinking about it. it's so disgusting how the mine was able to stay open with over 200 safety violations.

halleybird · Hermes

Christine...here's the link to the letters. I saw the photos of the letters on the news and started bawling, and I almost never cry while watching the news.

Christine · Coach

halleybird wrote:

Christine...here's the link to the letters. I saw the photos of the letters on the news and started bawling, and I almost never cry while watching the news.

Thanks for the link, HB.

Eurodaisy · Dooney & Bourke

asf wrote:

i think that what makes this even more horrible were the erroneous reports that the 12 miners had been found alive! i mean, after they've spent 30+ hours trapped in a mine, i'd imagine that you start to think that the chances for your loved one's survival are pretty slim, so to hear that they were all okay and then - oh wait, just kidding, they're all dead but one, oops! not that the event itself isn't horrible, but i think that really would've put me over the edge.

Exactly! This is the problem with 24 hr news coverage... apparently they are all in such a rush to report and get the ratings, nobody bothers to do some fact checking. You'd think we would have learned after the 2000 Presidential Election, but noooooo.... infuriating.

manhattanmonkey · Kenneth Cole

Eurodaisy wrote:

asf wrote:
i think that what makes this even more horrible were the erroneous reports that the 12 miners had been found alive! i mean, after they've spent 30+ hours trapped in a mine, i'd imagine that you start to think that the chances for your loved one's survival are pretty slim, so to hear that they were all okay and then - oh wait, just kidding, they're all dead but one, oops! not that the event itself isn't horrible, but i think that really would've put me over the edge.
Exactly! This is the problem with 24 hr news coverage... apparently they are all in such a rush to report and get the ratings, nobody bothers to do some fact checking. You'd think we would have learned after the 2000 Presidential Election, but noooooo.... infuriating.

IMO, this was not the fault of the news media. This is one example of how getting unconfirmed facts can hurt the media but they were just going on what they were being told.

If you recall, even the CEO of the company thought this could be true. The media was going on info from the crowds and even said on TV that this was unconfirmed info.

There may be a lot of faults in the media but this is one case where it was out of their control.

halleybird · Hermes

manhattanmonkey wrote:

IMO, this was not the fault of the news media. This is one example of how getting unconfirmed facts can hurt the media but they were just going on what they were being told. If you recall, even the CEO of the company thought this could be true. The media was going on info from the crowds and even said on TV that this was unconfirmed info. There may be a lot of faults in the media but this is one case where it was out of their control.

I agree with MM here. CNN had 5 or 6 sources who confirmed the information (including the governor and a congressman!) before they went on the air. It wasn't like they were working off of rumors.

TV news was in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation here. The closest they could get to official word was the governor, since they weren't able to get to the rescue site. So if they had waited an additional 5-6 hours and the miners really had been alive, they'd have been faulted for not getting the information sooner.

I do have to say FOX News did the best job (**chokes a little**). They never called the reports confirmed or official, and I believe they were the only news network who constantly reinforced the fact that they hadn't seen any survivors yet, even though they were hearing 12 were alive.

I feel bad for the families, but I think the whole situation was just a bad parody of the "telephone" game -- one person says something to another, who says it to another, etc. until the meaning is misconstrued.