Krystal Neeley
Eng 110
Jim VanderMey
March 27, 2007
Argumentative Essay In the article “Tragedy in West Virginia: Did Religious Exuberance Lead to Bad Reporting and False Hopes?” by Conrad F. Goeringer, he discusses the mining explosion that occurred at the Sago mine in West Virginia on January 2, 2006. Twelve men were trapped in this mine. Forty-eight hours later eleven were found dead, and one man was unconscious. However, reports were made that a miracle took place; rescuers recovered all of these men alive. Goeringer claims that fictional outcomes were wrapped up in faith. This faith, he argues, intensified the grieving for survivors and resulted in fallacious reports by the news media. He states, “The church seems to have been the ignition point of the joyous but unverified rumor: “families began streaming out of the church, yelling ‘They’re Alive!’ The church’s bells began ringing and families embraced.’” (42) In this excerpt, he is suggesting that the people of the church are the source of the false reports in this tragic incident. In conclusion, Goeringer assumes that the exhilaration of a miracle, and faith carried out an untrue story. The news media was misguided by these believers, which resulted in false reports of these miners being found alive. In my view, Goeringer is misrepresenting the reports of these “alive” miners, claiming that their sources, with high hopes of a miraculous finding, led the media to believe this also. “‘Praying for a miracle” seemed to be a phrase on everyone’s lips, including the television anchors and reporters desperately working to keep the information coherent while beating the competition.” (42) He points out that newspaper reporters and anchors were in a rush to spread the news of a miracle. This seems to be culpability upon religious hopes by implying the media was blindfolded by the hype on a miracle. More specifically, I believe that the liability should be placed on the reporters. For example, “rescue workers had conveyed the information that they had located twelve bodies…the word “alive” became part of the reportorial mix and no one thought to question it.” (Goeringer43) The reporters should have gone directly to the rescue workers, which recovered these men, for their stories. This would have been a more credible source of information. Goeringer might object that the media was drowning in faithful beliefs of a miracle, and that “religious faith became an instrument of unrealistic expectations and tragic self-deception.” (43), hinting that these reporters were also hoping and believing that a miracle took place at the Sago mine. I contend that the media may have wanted a marvelous ending to this devastating event, but they should have written their story true. Religion is not at fault here. The only role faith could have played in this scenario was, again, “praying for a miracle,” (Goeringer42) nothing more. Religion does not dictate what the news media reports to the public. Faith can only give families hope for a better outcome in a misfortunate event. Therefore, I conclude that the media are the true culprits of the bad reporting in this case. The sources used were coming from an elementary game of he said, she said. Truthful and more reliable information would have come from the rescue workers at the mine. Reporters should have known that these rescuers would have been the ones to verify the correct facts. Overall, this was a tragic case of irresponsible and bad reporting. Reporters are the ones to point the finger at. They should have considered asking their sources “how do you know that?”, and delivered the precise facts.

Works Cited
Goeringer, Conrad F. “Tragedy in West Virginia: Did Religious Exuberance Lead to Bad Reporting and False Hopes?” The Humanist Vol. 66, no2 (Mr/Ap2006):42-3.