The Propaganda FilesNavy Yard Shooting: NBC and CBS Name the Wrong Man
During the Washington Navy Yard shooting, CBS and NBC identified a Navy chief petty officer named Rollie Chance as the gunman.
A breaking-news misidentification with no clear partisan valence.
What was reported
During the Washington Navy Yard shooting, CBS and NBC identified a Navy chief petty officer named Rollie Chance as the gunman.
What actually happened
CBS's John Miller and then NBC reported Chance as the shooter based on early sourcing; NBC kept the name on air past the time CBS backed off. Both retracted, and the gunman was identified as contractor Aaron Alexis. Chance later urged media to verify before naming suspects.
The proof
The FBI identified Aaron Alexis as the shooter; both networks retracted the Chance identification.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
Navy Yard Shooting: NBC and CBS Name the Wrong Man — Retracted. The FBI identified Aaron Alexis as the shooter; both networks retracted the Chance identification. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/navy-yard-wrong-suspect-rollie-chance-2013/
Original reporting
- Reason (secondary): CBS, NBC retract reporting on identity of Navy Yard shooterhttps://reason.com/2013/09/16/cbs-nbc-retract-reporting-on-identity-of/
Corrections, findings & records
- Poynter: Man wrongly ID'd as Navy Yard shooter demands accountabilityhttps://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2013/man-wrongly-idd-as-navy-yard-shooter-demands-accountability-from-media/
- iMediaEthics: NBC wrongly reported the shooter's namehttps://www.imediaethics.org/?p=7904
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Reason (secondary): CBS, NBC retract reporting on identity of Navy Yard shooterhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://reason.com/2013/09/16/cbs-nbc-retract-reporting-on-identity-of/