Joe Paterno died on Sunday morning. There is a chance, however, that you heard about it on Saturday night, when many news organizations reported that Paterno had died many hours before he actually did.

The original report came from Onward State, Pennsylvania State University’s independent student news blog, which tweeted the erroneous information. CBS Sports picked up the report, followed by other news organizations such as the Guardian and the New Jersey Star-Ledger. This mistake is an example of a news industry that, in its drive to provide constant 24-hour breaking news, has moved away from shoe-leather journalism and independent reporting to a dependence on other news sources in an attempt to beat others to the punch.

We understand how difficult it can be to draw in readers and provide accurate news coverage on important events before anyone else. However, good reporting has the basic tenet that stories and sources need to be factual, and relying on other news sources just isn’t good enough.

The news media has been having trouble figuring out the way that it is going to incorporate new media, especially as the newspaper format becomes more and more outdated.

Almost every newspaper has a corresponding Twitter account, and many columnists blog, tweet or do both. Even news networks like CNN have started to replace the “man on the street” quote with a quote pulled from Twitter, where it is impossible to confirm a person’s true identity.

It is difficult to compete with all the other news information sites out in the world, but when push comes to shove, the main draw of institutions such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal is their accuracy.

Being first is important, but being correct is essential. When an incorrect news story is reported, readers will leave for more accurate information.

The current form of journalism, with its focus on impartiality and accuracy, with multiple knowledgeable sources that can give information, has only been around for about 70 years. Yes, the way news is reported is going to have to change over the next decade, as more and more people get Internet access, and as more and more possible sources of information pop up. But dedication to accurate reporting cannot change.

We can’t assume that every single tweet and every single blog post is entirely accurate. Yes, you might not be there first if you focus on accuracy, but we believe that in reporting, it is essential to be correct as often as possible.

This will require news organizations to become much faster with traditional reporting if they want to compete, but ultimately an organization will be rewarded for its focus on accuracy. Readers want to know that they are finding out the truth. No matter how many breaking news alerts there are, we will stop listening if it turns out that they are all false.