an unfortunate twitter billboard in alabama

from cnet: Sometimes ingenuity doesn't quite lead you to a comfortable place. The enterprising folks at WPMI TV in Mobile, Ala., decided that they should reach out on a real-time basis to their viewers. They erected a billboard, adorned it with an image of three of its most photogenic anchors, and added a live Twitter feed. The whole thing ran very smoothly, until a passing human took this photograph and sent it in to The Palmetto Scoop.

Perhaps one's first reaction would be that this image might have enjoyed a little concoction. However, Mashable has confirmed that not only is it real, but, citing the Lagniappe blog, it says WPMI-TV's general manager and news director have allegedly been suspended for a week because of this unfortunate conflagration. This all seems just slightly odd. Television and radio has always been fond of slipping in a seven-second delay just in case untoward syllables slip through the mouths of guests or, indeed, hosts. It seems that no such delay was considered for this Twitter feed.