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COLUMN: Breaking news demands reliable, up-to-date coverage

It’s easy for misinformation about a wildfire to spread when the story is close to us
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The Finlay Creek fire, burning since Saturday between Peachland and Summerland, is close to us.

It’s not just another wildfire. This one affects each of us.

Some are on evacuation notice or evacuation alert, while others wonder if friends or family members are in danger. Others are waiting to learn whether they are about to be evacuated.

And for the rest of us, the smoke-filled skies are affecting us all.

A fire of this magnitude, this close to town, becomes personal. And as a result, it’s easy for misinformation about the fire to spread.

This was the case over the weekend.

Some Summerlanders speculated whether the fire would reach the community and force a mass evacuation, similar to what other communities experienced earlier this summer. Others prepared bags of emergency supplies, just in case they would have to leave home.

On social media, some users posted comments about evacuation alerts or orders for the Prairie Valley region, extending as far as Giant’s Head School. Others posted reports of a fire at the Kettle Valley Steam Railway station on Bathville Road.

Those reports were the most disturbing, because they were not true.

The evacuation orders and alerts ended many kilometres away from the elementary school, and the railway station was not on fire.

By the end of Tuesday, two homes within Summerland’s municipal limits have been evacuated and other homes in the Garnett Valley area, from Wildhorse Road north, have been put on evacuation alert.

An evacuation alert was also issued for the community of Faulder.

It’s easy to overreact when a fire is raging nearby and when smoke from nearby fires affects breathing and obscures the sky.

But times like these are when it is essential to seek out accurate information. Panic will not help anyone.

News outlets have been covering this story with information about the fire, the firefighting efforts, the areas affected, the evacuation alerts and notices and other information.

Details have been changing, and as a result, updated information has been posted when it becomes available.

This process of updating is simply the nature of breaking news coverage. Initial information can be broadcast or posted within minutes of an event, but the more accurate details tend to come later.

That’s why online coverage of breaking news includes updates, to indicate when information was added.

Breaking news, by its nature, is coverage of an event as it is happening.

Events such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, riots, wars and accidents all fall into this category.

Details are posted, and as more information is known, a clearer picture emerges.

In order to get that clear picture, it is essential to go to the most recent information from reputable sources.

Word-of-mouth reports are sometimes low on accuracy, and they can result in an unnecessary state of panic.

Reliable news coverage is based on information from reliable sources.

Information about the fire and the firefighting efforts comes from the B.C. Wildfire Service.

The evacuation orders and alerts, as well as the information about the location of evacuation centres comes from the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen and from the municipality of Summerland.

The story of the Finlay Creek fire is still happening, and as the details change, we will update the story on our website at summerlandreview.com.

The goal is to provide the most current and reliable information possible.

John Arendt is the editor of the Summerland Review.



John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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