Joe Paterno died Sunday at 9:25 a.m. in a State College hospital. His family announced his death.

But reports of the demise of the Penn State coaching legend started more than 12 hours earlier on the Internet, not long after a family spokesman had reported the 85-year-old patriarch was in serious condition and that family members had been called to the hospital.

The Internet is sometimes referred to as the "Wild West." Saturday night it lived up to that reputation by going off half-cocked.

Rumors of Paterno's death started with Facebook postings, then took off when Onward State, a Penn State student website, tweeted that Paterno had died. Then, the Internet chain reaction began.

CBSSports.com reported JoePa's death, based on the Onward State report. Others followed until Paterno's son Scott tweeted:

"CBS report is wrong — Dad is alive but in serious condition."

Onward State retracted its posting and CBSSports issued an apology (discrediting Onward State, although it didn't orginally give it any credit).

The young managing editor of Onward State resigned. He wrote:

"In this day and age, getting it first often conflicts with getting it right."

Getting it first is all-important on the Internet. It brings hits and in mere moments can build a following.

It's no different for print newspapers, except we're constrained by press starts. Most editors can tell you stories about pulling the trigger — or not pulling it — on stories about elections or games that weren't quite over as deadline approached. Now that newspapers have websites, we face pressure to report faster. We posted Paterno's condition earlier on LancasterOnline.com, but did not post that other websites were reporting his death.

Why? From the beginning of Onward State's report, this had the look of others just following the leader. It was only a hunch. If the report had been correct, we would have looked bad for not being on top of a story on our website.

It turns out, according to the Los Angeles Times, that Onward State was the victim of a hoax email, which said football players had been told Paterno had died. CBSSports admitted it did not verify the Onward State tweet, and that's an even bigger stumble for a professional news organization. CBS did fire the person who approved the post.

Those who posted erroneously were so much in a hurry that they forgot or ignored the old newspaper adage for verifying tips and information: "If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out."

We all like to beat the competition. It's exhilarating.

But as other journalists noted, there was a man in CBS's past, who once said:

"Get it first, but get it right."

Some guy named Walter Cronkite.

Stop the presses
One of the reasons for doing this column weekly has been to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how the Sunday paper is put together, and how decisions are made.

Front pages are always subject to the whims of last-minute breaking news.

This past Saturday night we were looking at two different front pages, one leading with Newt Gingrich upsetting the GOP apple cart in South Carolina, and the other, Paterno passing away.

Reporting and updating news on our website is quick and easy. Changing a print newspaper is a little like turning a battleship around. It takes time to revise pages, make the plates and restart the presses.

Other forces come into play. Although we aim to give you the latest news in print, there are delivery deadlines. You expect your paper on time Sunday morning.

We go to press at 12:30 a.m. every Sunday. If Paterno had passed away after that time, we would have stopped the presses and "made over" quickly. We had pictures and stories ready to go.

What is the latest we would stop the presses for breaking news or to update news? Probably 2:15 a.m., maybe 2:30 a.m. By that time, the bulk of the newspapers are out the door and on their way. We would only be updating for several thousand papers. At that point, we would rely on reporting the story on our website.

'We are ...' editorial
 There are letters to the editor today on last Sunday's editorial about Penn State alumni. The editorial would have been upsetting to some, even if it had not been published the day of Paterno's death. It was written before it was known that Paterno was on his deathbed, but was printed with that knowledge.

The timing — my timing — was terrible and gave the appearance of being unsympathetic to Paterno's condition. The focus of the editorial was on the behavior of alumni at the town hall meetings with Penn State's new president. Some alumni seemed to be in denial about the real victims of the Sandusky scandal, while concentrating on the way the school fired Paterno.

I awakened Sunday morning, recovered from Saturday night's adrenaline rush, to have it dawn on me — the editorial! In the light of day, I was hit hard with regret. The editorial page had been finished Friday and I was caught up in breaking events Saturday. No excuses. This error in judgment has made for some gloomy days for me.

What we wrote needed to be said, but it could have been held for a later time.

It should have been held for a later time.

Heavenly plan
I was waxing philosophical with daughter Abigail, telling her that "God put me on the earth to take care of you

and. ..." The 16-year-old finished my sentence: "and to be annoying."

Marv Adams can be reached by email at madams@lnpnews.com or mail: Sunday News, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328.