“Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, retires.”
That’s the headline NPR published, based on a veteran reporter mishearing a bystander outside the Supreme Court. It ran for five minutes before anyone checked it against an actual announcement. No confirmation from Alito. No confirmation from the Court’s press office. Just a rumor overheard on the steps, typed up, and pushed live. The correction came fast. The instinct to publish first and verify never did.