by Sara Sarasohn

People die in threes. At least, that's the legend and that's the way it played out this week. I've worked on obits for Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson this week and I feel like I've hit my limit. I suspect Aaron Barnhart, tv critic for the Kansas City paper, is feeling something similar.

He posted about a tweet he got that seemed to encapsulate the week:

... On 09/18/1979, Farrah Fawcett & Michael Jackson were both guests on the Tonight Show w/Johnny Carson, co-hosted by Ed McMahon.

Barnhart thought this was so great he immediately retweeted it. Then he checked the facts ... which were not true. Barnhart knows better than to spread rumors under his professional imprimatur - he says as much in his blog post about the whole thing - but he whipped out the "RT @" immediately to repeat the rumor.

I am right there with Aaron Barnhart in wishing there was some truth to that tweet. I feel like it would make my whole week make sense. However, I'm really glad he fact-checked it. Even more, I'm impressed that he posted about being wrong instead of just letting it slide. It's hard to look dumb, and even harder to tell other people that you were wrong.

categories: Social Networks

11:23 - June 26, 2009

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