Re: NNG: not everything is fun and games

Paul,

My criticism of the medias' lack of accuracy comes from watching them report it badly since 1978. I was a military, then airline pilot, since that time. I can only shake my head at the desire to sensationalize and the tendency to go with the "if it bleeds, it leads" method of reporting. I was a media rep for the Airline Pilots Association and was trained to speak to the media. Most of the time, facts that could have been verified with one phone call to the proper people were never checked before publication or broadcast. I can only guess the reason the call was never made was they didn't really care if it was correct.

Following an accident where people are killed or injured, those that have any involvement are going to be traumatized. Do you really think that is the time to have a reporter with a deadline and no investment in the outcome questioning the engineer/pilot/crewmember? You may be thinking "I would want to tell what I know". If so, you likely have never had any involvement in such a serious incident. If for no other reason than to protect the legal rights of those involved, talking to a reporter so he can get a news story is a stupid and dangerous idea. There is a proper time when that can be done. If that doesn't happen to suit a news deadline is simply not important.

Many accidents are not at all what they seem at first look. When the facts are gathered and emotions died down is the proper time to talk and tell what you know. There is no attempt to hide anything, just to protect those involved from incrimination and unfair treatment.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2014 09:15PM by jgunning.