Early Saturday morning Charlotte CBS-affiliate WBTV mistakenly reported that Billy Graham had died.  About a half hour later, the station retracted the report, blaming it on “some incorrect information” received from CBS News.

WBTV news director Dennis Milligan posted a statement on the station’s website following the mix-up.  Here’s what happened, according to Milligan:

On Saturday during its early morning newscast,  WBTV News mistakenly reported the passing of the Rev. Billy Graham. Our show producer read what he thought was a breaking news crawl about Rev. Graham on an off- air network feed. Read more

Shortly after 6:30 on Saturday morning, Charlotte CBS-affiliate WBTV reported that Billy Graham had died.  The news was especially significant considering that Graham was born in Charlotte and has been a social luminary in North Carolina for decades.

In fact, the influential Christian leader was very much alive after spending a “restful night” at an Asheville hospital as he battles pneumonia.

Just before 7 a.m., WBTV anchor Kristen Miranda corrected the station’s mistake. Read more