Steve Jobs Is Not Dead, Unlike CBS' Relationship

by grant0ac on 2012-03-03 18:04:36

Steve Jobs Is Not Dead, Unlike CBS’ Relationship to the Show that Said He Was

By Graeme McMillan | @graemem | September 12, 2011 |

REUTERS / Beck Diefenbach

Steve Jobs is alive and well—but the same, sadly, can’t be said for CBS News’ relationship with the web show that told the world that Jobs had died last week.

CBS has cut off all ties with *What’s Trending*, a web series focusing on news and current events from an online perspective, after the show announced the death of Jobs last Friday on its official Twitter account. Before this point, the show had been hosted by CBSNews.com since its launch in May of this year.

(MORE: Two-Minute Video: Steve Jobs, This Is Your Life (at Apple))

Shortly after *Trending* reported the death, the tweet was deleted and replaced with a retraction that read “Apologies—reports of Steve Job’s [sic] death completely unconfirmed. Live on,” as well as a retweeted apology from producer and host Shira Lazar that said that everyone at production company Disrupt Group “sincerely [apologized] for the inaccuracy.” The damage, however, had been done; Jobs’ rumored demise was spreading around the Internet and being credited (or partly credited) to CBS News.

According to *The Hollywood Reporter*, CBS executives “informed CBS Interactive to remove from CBSNews.com all material related to Lazar and *What’s Trending*” by Friday evening, although the show’s Twitter page still lists http://www.cbsnews.com/WhatsTrending as the first destination for those seeking the show (that URL currently leads to a “page you requested cannot be found on the CBS News website” message).

The show will apparently continue via YouTube.

MORE: See One Fan’s Impressive Half-Marathon Tribute to Steve Jobs

Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.