City Took Action to Correct CNN Mistake

This past Tuesday, the Cable News Network (CNN) erroneously reported that the embattled Miramonte Elementary School was located in South Gate.  The city took action as soon as it was made aware of the mistake by issuing a press release.

“[CNN] reported misinformation stating that Miramonte Elementary School is in South Gate,” said the city’s press release. “Miramonte Elementary School is NOT in South Gate.”

The school is located in Florence-Firestone, an unincorporated area south of Los Angeles near South Gate.

Nellie Cobos, the city’s Public Information Officer, also reached out the international news company through several other venues to correct the information as soon as possible.

"[The] following is what I have done to attempt to correct this misinformation," said Cobos, in an email to city officials. "Reported the error on the CNN website, posted a comment at the bottom of the article, tweeted the editor."

CNN has fixed the error and the article no longer mentions South Gate.

Approximately a dozen students alleged that Mark Berndt, a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, sexually abused them. Berndt has since been aprehended and charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct.

Last Tuesday, Martin Bernard Springer, another teacher at Miramonte Elementary School was arrested, after being accused by two female students of inappropriate touching. One of the girls has already recanted her story, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The impact that this misreporting had on the city was mostly felt by the work that officials had to do to correct the situation.

“It creates a lot of extra work for the city, since we do have to clean up after something like that is said,” said George Troxcil, City Manager for the city of South Gate, who further stated that this "terrible event" will make relatives, who are unfamiliar with the names of schools in South Gate, panic when hearing such horror stories. “This is a very unfortunate incident for the children and families involved. ”