News organizations face a dilemma when covering fast-breaking events with enormous consequences — how to report the information as quickly as possible, without potentially saying something inaccurate.

That dilemma came into sharp focus on the evening of July 13 as reports and videos began to emerge of an attempted assassination on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Many news outlets avoided directly calling the incident a shooting in their initial coverage.

CNN (Lean Left bias) in particular caught flak from critics for its initial headline stating that Trump “falls at rally.” While some news organizations used more decisive language like “gunfire” and “shooting” within an hour of the incident, CNN did not include “shooting” in its headline until 90 minutes later, after a law enforcement source called it a shooting in an official statement.

How Should News Trade Off Speed vs. Accuracy?

The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics states that journalists have an ethical obligation to “verify information before releasing it,” and that “neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.” The code also states to “Use original sources whenever possible.”

The incident at the rally had all the hallmarks of a shooting from the beginning, shown by original sources — but in the small chance that something else had taken place, news organizations had to be cautious, without coming across as displaying bias by omission or being inaccurate. 

On the other hand, Reuters Institute fellow Reiko Saisho argues the “24 hour news cycle” has reshaped the speed vs. accuracy tradeoff, and that news organizations ought to verify facts with non-traditional methods during fast-breaking and momentous news events in order to maintain their legitimacy as a “trusted guide in a time of national crisis.”

Some outlets balanced these competing imperatives by initially describing loud sounds, the Secret Service response, and the crowd’s panicked reaction — suggesting without directly asserting that gunfire had likely taken place. Others more confidently reported gunfire as the story broke:

• Fox News (Right) broke the news at 6:23 pm with the headline, “Gunfire breaks out at Trump rally in Pennnsylvania [sic],” then updated its language to “possible gunfire” at 6:41 pm.
• New York Times (Lean Left) added to its election live page the headline, “Trump Rushed Off Stage at Rally After What Sounded Like Shots,” at 6:27 pm.
• As early as 6:43 pm, Breibart (Right) said on its home page that Trump was “shot” in an “assassination attempt.”
• The Hill (Center) described “loud bangs” and “sounds that resembled gunshots” in initial headlines and tweets before decisively calling the incident a shooting around 7:08 pm.

How CNN’s Headlines Evolved

Factual Timeline: all times in EDT — source: The Hill (Center bias)

• 6:03 pm: Trump takes the stage at the rally.
• 6:11 pm: Shots are heard; Trump raises his hand to his ear, then ducks behind his podium as members of the crowd behind him get down.
• 6:14 pm: A video of the shooting appears on X.
• 6:42 pm: The Secret Service announces that an “incident occurred” at the rally, Trump “is safe,” and there is an “active investigation.”
• 7:24 pm: The Butler County District Attorney confirms the deaths of a “suspected shooter” and one audience member.

CNN Update Timeline: source: Wayback Machine

• CNN first reported the shooting on its election news live page at 6:22 pm EDT, roughly 15 minutes after the shots were first heard, with the headline, “Secret Service rushes Trump off stage after he falls at rally.” The body of the live entry mentioned the “loud bangs” heard.
  • The “falls” headline appeared on CNN’s home and edition pages at 6:39 pm at the latest.
• At 6:34 pm, CNN published a standalone article titled, “Trump injured in incident at rally;” the Secret Service also characterized the occurrence as an “incident” shortly thereafter.
  • The home and edition pages showed the “incident” headline at 7:10 pm at the latest.
• At 7:36 pm, CNN updated its live page with a new headline — “Trump rushed off stage after shooting at Pennsylvania rally.” The update came approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes after the shooting started and 12 minutes after the Butler County DA called the incident a shooting.
  • At a later point (8:01 pm at the latest, but likely earlier), the headline of the standalone page replaced “incident” with “shooting” to read, “Trump injured in shooting at Pennsylvania rally.”
  • The home and edition pages showed the “shooting” headline at 8:04 pm at the latest.

Evan Wagner is AllSIdes’ News Editor and Bias Analyst. He has a Lean Left bias.
Reviewed by Clare Ashcraft, Bridging and Bias Specialist (Center bias) and Julie Mastrine, Director of Marketing and Media Bias Ratings (Lean Right)