Oh my God, they killed Stevie!

In the world of journalism, everyone makes mistakes. It's not a matter of if, it's only a matter of when you'll publish a gaffe that leaves everyone involved red-faced.

Such an instance befell Bloomberg news today. The organization mistakenly published a 12-page obituary memorializing Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Unfortunately for Bloomberg, and fortunately for Apple fanboys and fangirls worldwide, St. Steve is, in fact, alive and well. The rest of the tech world was quick to pick up the story and partake in a nice bit of schadenfreude at Bloomberg's expense.

A nice bit of news for the time of year referred to as the "silly season," but you can't really single Bloomberg out for this. While it was a major mistake, it was one that many in the tech press world could have made.

For those outside of the world of journalism, a bit of an explanation is necessary. Obituaries aren't the sort of thing that are written up spontaneously. Organizations routinely assign reporters to update the life story of important newsmakers in the event that someone passes away suddenly. A well-maintained obituary allows a news organization to get up a better story much faster than one that has to scramble to recount a celebrity's life on a tight deadline.

Given Steve's recent bout with cancer and the gaunt appearance that resulted from its aftereffects, it's no wonder Bloomberg would want to update his obituary.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, a journalistic blunder can lead to a Wall Street meltdown. Can you imagine what would have happened if this news had been picked up elsewhere and investors dumped Apple Stock en masse? Billions of dollars in market losses could have been pinned on a simple screw up with the Bloomberg story publishing tool...