Jump or Slipped?

I got to know about the news, where a single mother of 34 years old allegedly pushed her son and her daughter from the 17th floor of an apartment, yesterday when told to me by Mami. At first I thought that this is crazy and senseless. But since I could not confirm the news, I decided to read on it today.

The alledged suicide pact was reported in one of the tabloid, while The Star only reported about the fall. "Mom told 'em to jump" was the headline in the tabloid. The tabloid also reported how the boy was fighting for his life in the hospital, how the mother had lost her job and suffering from depression and how the mother would also joined her kid to jump off the building.

But today, it's a totally different story. The two children are now claiming that they actually slipped and fell, and there is no suicide pact. The sister lost her footing while running to the bathroom and somehow slipped through an opening in the railing. The brother tried to save his sister by grabbing her hand but he fell through as well. And this was also reported by the same tabloid that claimed, a day before, that it was the mom who made them to jump.

So now the question...why the two different stories? Is the alledged suicide pact story reported on Monday verified? Is it from a reliable source? Or was it just hear-say? How about the second story?

I know this kind of news sells. This is what most reader wants to know. It is shocking, it is unexpected, it is disturbing and it sells. But it has to be the truth. Not hear-say, not grandmother's stories, not a neighbour's "oh-I-saw-her-crying-on-the-stair-case-so-she-must-be-crazy" comment, but from reliable and verified sources. Look at what happened to Dan Rather of CBS's 60 Minutes.