Boston news station alerts public to tongue-stuck-to-pole incident

Maddie Gilmartin, we learn from WCVB.com, is a curious 12-year-old.

The East Kingston, New Hampshire resident got her tongue stuck to a flag pole in her front yard, WCVB — a Boston news station — also told us, via coverage from WMUR, a New Hampshire-based affiliate.

And the station was so compelled by her story that it reportedly leveraged the incident as one of its lead stories Saturday night, while also sending out an alert of some sort to viewers.

On Sunday morning, the ABC affiliate issued an apology for its apparent news judgment lapse.

A quote from the pole’s victim in WMUR’s original story seems fitting:

“Just think before you do something.” – Maddie Gilmartin, 12

We'd like to apologize for sending an alert on a story about a girl who got her tongue stuck on a pole.

— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) January 5, 2014

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