"Mistakes were made, and one narrative too readily embraced, in coverage of the blast. Meanwhile, The Dallas Morning News excelled."
"As in many disasters, manmade or natural, a lot of the initial reporting about the explosion in West turned out to be wrong. That sometimes comes with the territory—as authorities puzzle out what happened, they share claims and theories that turn out not to hold up. But too often in coverage of West, caveats were disregarded, theories were presented as certainties or without ample skepticism, inaccuracies were repeated, and facts that ran against the prevailing narrative—preventable industrial accident—were sidelined. There were a handful of local news outlets that shined (more on that later). But first, the shortcomings."
Richard Parker reports for Columbia Journalism Review May 24, 2013.
