WNBC.com jumps gun, shoots self

Shame on WNBC.com in New York for rushing to beat Thursday's official announcement of Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report by running an unsubstantiated list of players allegedly accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Not until the list was posted did WNBC's Jonathan Dienst reach a source at Major League Baseball who disputed some of the players' names published on the Web site.

The station issued an apology but the damage was already done. In its zeal to be first, WNBC.com became a source for other media outlets as its list quickly spread across the Web. What was already going to be a tough day for the sport was made worse by inadequate reporting.

Read the apology.