NPR said late Saturday that it regrets reporting the “erroneous news” that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been killed in the Tucson shooting — reports that were picked up and repeated by several top news organizations.
CNN, Fox News and other television outlets followed suit in the minutes after 2 p.m., and even The New York Times carried the incorrect reporting briefly, citing NPR and CNN as sources. Half an hour later, hospital officials told MSNBC that she was alive and in surgery, and within minutes the cable networks and the Times had pulled back their reports.