Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, 85, known by the college football world as “JoePa”, was reported to have died by a Penn State news publication Saturday, according to CBS. That report has since been retracted.
Following the news, the Twitter page of Onward State, an online news organization serving the Penn State and State College community, stated: “A Paterno family spokesman has denied our initial report, which was corroborated by multiple sources. We’re working on finding out more.”
CBS then updated its story, saying, “a Paterno family spokesperson Dan McGinn told a New York Times reporter that the report is ‘absolutely not true.'”
Once KnightNews.com saw CBS reporting the initial death report, KnightNews.com also published the report of Paterno’s death, based on the CBS report. KnightNews.com never reported that we independently confirmed Paterno’s death. We provided the link to the CBS report, along with updates of the denials of the death report as they broke.
According to @ScottPaterno, a Twitter page reported to be run by Paterno’s son, Scott Paterno, the “CBS report is wrong – Dad is alive but in serious condition. We continue to ask for your prayers and privacy during this time.”
Onward State, the publication which initially reported to “break” that they confirmed Paterno was dead, which was then picked up by CBS, issued a tweet apologizing. “We were confident when we ran with it, and are still trying to figure out where our process failed. We apologize sincerely for error,” the Onward State tweet said.
The managing editor of Onward State later resigned in the fallout of CBS Sports going with their report.
Paterno has been receiving chemotherapy for lung cancer.
Paterno’s recent weeks followed controversy in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. However, many fans have stood by him.
According to the Huffington Post, Paterno notched 409 wins during the 46 seasons coaching Penn State — the record for a Division I football coach — and led his teams to earn national championships in 1982 and 1986.
