NBC News was one of the first to learn of the death of astronaut Neil Armstrong on Saturday, but instead announced the death of astronaut Neil Young.
“Astronaut Neil Young, first man to walk on moon, dies at age 82,” read the NBC News headline shortly after 3 pm EST, which was tweeted out and picked up by thousands of others before it was changed.
As a refresher, Neil Young is a 66-year-old rock star who is very much alive.
Neil Armstrong, an American hero and the first man to walk on the moon, died on Saturday a few weeks after heart surgery.
NBC updated its story and added an editor’s note acknowledging the error in the initial headline.
That’s one small error for a writer, one giant error for an entire news organization.