http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23085736 — “”He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night,” Mr Zuma said after speaking to the 94-year-old’s medical team.” — We must put a stop to guessing and rumors when dealing with observable phenomenon!

In the BBC article, Nelson Mandela’s daughter Makaziwe castigates the international press for wanting to get to Heaven’s Gate and the great obituaries ahead of time.

If a family’s “death watch” may be has hard and uncertain as it is natural and beautiful in its human way, that involving an elderly international political celebrity may be that much harder.  Mandel’as journey has been Big News for Big Media since the 1950s, at least, and any moment approaching the end becomes a part of that epic.

Still, we should be careful.

The rumor of Mandela’s death came to me by way of a Pakistani friend and perhaps  on his side from a part of the mouth-to-ear quarter of it.  A fast look-up on the web tells the truth: web-based media, large or small, has no incentive for painting a false picture.

May patience — and fact checking — abet integrity in the news online.

Reference

BBC.  “Nelson Mandela much better today – Jacob Zuma.”  June 27, 2013.

Tales of the Erroneous

Thanks to Pakistani ethnographer and social science research Haroon Janua for locating these gems.

Daily Bhaskar.  “In haste, Gujarat’s Congress leader declares Nelson Mandela as dead.”  June 27, 2013.

Huffington Post.  “Dutch City Council Erroneously Pronounces Nelson Mandela Dead.”  June 26, 2013.

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