Tim Russert colleague fired for Wikipedia leak
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom -Jun 24, 2008
By Matthew Moore A colleague of American broadcaster Tim Russert has been sacked for leaking news of his death on Wikipedia before it was formally announced ...

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NBC's and MSNBC's competitors in the not-so-ethical world of network and cable news managed to demonstrate the needed editorial restraint to sit on the story long enough to allow NBC to break the story in a dignified manner. This was a rare display of comity. But some low level dweeb in a company that provides web services for NBC runs to Wikipedia with the news in his hot little hands. Sounds about right.

If a low-level dweeb learns of a newsworthy item, it's not unreasonable for the low-level dweeb to assume the news item has already broken on the media.

Else why would a low-level dweeb even know about it?

Agree. But, that's the breaks, I guess - because poor low-level dweebs are dispensable, right? I feel really bad for him or her. It's like Wikipedia - getting blocked for doing something against the complicated, hard to find/understand/contradictory 'rules", and then saying to oneself "wtf did I do wrong, dammit?" Only worse. *sigh*

Especially now, when the economy is so poor, and many people being laid-off, losing their homes (because of the mortgage crisis), etc. I hope he doesn't have a family to support, and is young enough to bounce back quickly.

Probably he was entrusted with the information to include in soon to be made public website content. But the low level dweeb ran to Wikipedia first. Real class act.

Usually if some news is embargoed for a period of time, it is clearly marked as an emargoed item, and the release conditions are spelled out.

That would account for the use of the word "fired."