The DeanBeat: Getting an acquisition story wrong, and the lessons that come from it

Sometimes the facts get in the way of a great story. I felt that way a little when a competing publication, The Information, reported this week that Amazon, not Google, was buying gameplay livestreaming startup Twitch for $970 million.

I cringed, as that scoop should have been mine. But I was asleep at the switch on Twitch, as I reported Google would do the deal. How this story unfolded showed me how I can get a story right and then get it wrong. It proved how fierce the competition between the gaming giants has become, where one will snatch a deal from another. And it reminded me of some important lessons I should have learned by now about digging out stories and following them wherever they lead me. I’m sorry I didn’t serve readers here, and screwed up with my basic journalism. I’ll explain how this happened, and I hope you’ll find the transparency a little eye-opening.