News and Rumours
Rumors and News fits right into the scope of what I would like to say.
First, I want to make a few points about rumors. It has become quite evident to me that this forum gladly accepts posted legitimate rumors, but yet there are counter threads that constantly warn us not to post rumors and instead let the CAA, the FAA, or whoever is in charge, decide the results. Well, if we followed these instructions, it would be a very sorry Pprune with very few posts and a lot of 200-page attachments of the official report two years into the future when most people have forgotten about the story of the incident.
Yet, the same people who say to lay off on the rumors, are the ones who five or 10 posts down the line are posting their own rumors.
Now, for the news. Just about every thread I read on this site has someone somewhere ragging on the press. Yes, I admit that the “Barbie” on Sky wouldn’t know a wing from a tail (maybe I’m wrong about the tail), but do you ever read some serious aviation journals where there are experts analyzing situations and not just spot reporting when there is not much information on a breaking story?
The most popular phrase coming out of tabloids regarding any kind of aircraft incident is, “I thought we were going to die.” Consider that yellow journalism that many people read on the way home on the tube, the subway, or the metro. No one really takes it seriously, and by the next day I doubt that you will find a follow-up story because the plane has landed safely and everyone has gone home.
Yet, when real sh*t happens, you are the first ones to quote and ask anybody on the site if they have any follow-up information. BBC says. CNN says. Sky says. In other words, then you do rely on the press for your information. I make no secret about it. I did work for the UPI news agency for many years, but I’ve been out of that business since 1981. I don’t have an axe to grind, except to say that you shouldn’t put every reporter down. Nor should you nix every rumor, because otherwise this would be a very meager site to post on.