CNBC erroneously posts, tweets death of Rev. Jesse Jackson

Business news channel CNBC deleted a story and a tweet that said that the Rev. Jesse Jackson had died at the age of 81.

In a tweet from the public relations department, the channel said the error was caused while “attempting to troubleshoot a technical issue.”

CNBC apologized to Rev. Jackson and readers for the error.

Publishing obituaries of people who are still alive is, unfortunately, a common occurrence in journalism. The practice even has its own Wikipedia page.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.