The cable news networks rushed to report on the high court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act, but initially got the news wrong; UPDATE: CNN then issues a formal correction.
The cable news networks reported that the Supreme Court had struck down the individual mandate at the center of the Affordable Care Act, the formal name for what has become to be known as Obamacare, the president's stab at universal healthcare and the signature policy accomplishment in his first term. Both on air and online, CNN ran graphics and headlines that read that the court had invalidated the mandate. Fox also ran a headline on the air saying the mandate was invalidated.
As it turned out, outlets including the Associated Press, MSNBC, SCOTUSBlog and The New York Times soon reported the actual decision: the mandate had survived as a tax, in effect upholding it and the rest of the law. The decision was given by Chief Justice John Roberts, in a 5-4 call.
CNN soon was pummeled by critics on Twitter, who pointed out that the network already was down to its lowest ratings since 1991. Many also joked that Aaron Sorkin's HBO show The Newsroom, about a cable network thought to be similar to CNN, would use this in a future episode.
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