WBAP Radio Issues False President Bush Report

George H.W. Bush, the country's 41st president, has been in a Houston hospital for more than a month now, undergoing treatment for complications from a serious case of bronchitis. The 88-year-old was checked into intensive care on Wednesday "following a series of setbacks, including a persistent fever."

It was during his stay in the ICU that WBAP 96.7 FM & 820 AM (Fort Worth/Dallas) inadvertently dispatched a breaking news bulletin via email and on its website announcing that Bush had died.

The false report was not on-air.

 That's a bit embarrassing since Bush Sr. remains very much alive.

WBAP quickly realized its error and sent another message.

WBAP News director Rick Hadley explained the situation, which he characterized as a huge mistake.

"As every news organization will do, we get our obituaries ready to go for people who aren't doing well," Hadley said.

In this case, there were the reports that Bush had been transferred to the ICU, so the news team prepared an email blast to be ready for when Bush died. A bit macabre, perhaps, but standard practice.

Hadley says there was a problem with the email system that, unbeknownst to the staff, caused the message to be sent to the station's email distribution list. They didn't realize what had happened until the switchboard began lighting up with callers.

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