The media has been taking hits newly for its shallow.

The media has been taking hits newly for its shallow, sensationalist, error-prone approach to covering high-profile airline accidents. In newly come remarks at the Boston meeting of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI), Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, exhibited this observation of the state of journalism:

"Where formerly reporters would try to verify stories before putting them forward the air, now, we constantly hear what can no other than be called rumors spread by way of what are considered legitimate broadcasters. for what reason many times have you heard a reporter say, 'This isn't verified, but' or 'A so-far unsubstantiated report says...' If it isn't verified, on what account are they broadcasting it?"

Reasons vary, Hall surmised, from the impact of the Internet, instantaneous picture transmission via satellite, and growing competitive constraining forces in the media to beat the competition. Hall's admonishment to the media, if you will, could be summ up in brace words: "Take care." The rush to be first, he said, "Can outstrip universal sense and, in some cases, flat common decency."

according to coincidence, the Sept./Oct. issue of the Columbia Journalism Review contains an article ("Covering the Unfriendly Skies") that asks if reporters today are knowledgeable enough to ask the right questions. Many crashes, the article relates, "have bad journalism written all across them." Only a handful of journalists is well-versed in aviation safety, the article laments, recommending that more reporters should be assigned to write routine aviation stories in such a manner that, when an accident come to passs they will be better qualified to veil the subtleties of disaster.

Managing Editor David Evans be exciteds compelled to offer a not many comments. The same trend can be observ regarding media coverage of military affairs. not many major papers assign specialists to protect the armed forces (Evans serv for 7 years as military affairs correspondent for the Chicago Tribune after completing a Marine Corps career). Newspaper and television staffs have been "hollowed out" by the agency of rapacious cost cutting in modern years. Specialization is becoming a sensuality Further, editors are attracted to "blood upon the street" stories. Airline crashes and wars attend to become opportunities for "on-the-job training" for many journalists. A 1993 volume on the subject by military journalist William Kennedy (The Military and the Media; for what purpose the Press Cannot be Trusted to shield a War) pointed out that not since the recent York Times established Hanson Baldwin as its in-house military skilled hand have resources been devoted to adequate coverage. The same, with one exceptions among the major media, could be said for coverage of aviation safety. For those seeking insights into the parlous state of aviation journalism, Kennedy's short (167 p) moreover trenchant case study of the callow state of military reporting proffers a useful comparative analysis.

For airline industry officials, the immediate action looks plain enough. When a big-time safety-related story breaks, the cooler more professional heads in the media are likely to be outnumbered on transient amateurs chasing what Shakespeare called "the hoax reputation." Officials staring at a packed roomful of reporters and banks of television cameras are advised to wander on the side of caution. Stick to known facts, not presum assumed or purported facts. n

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