I would agree with you that the industry as a whole is very insular about what information gets out to the public in the minutes, hours and days after an incident or accident. Its almost as if we all feel naked when someone, like a reporter, starts asking questions that in the normal course of our day would never be answered. By no means do I agree with this, but at the same time I don't want to be up front taking the heat either.
The problem is, though, that even a credible statement can be turned to the "dark side", if you will. I used the Cessna example in my last post because I have experience with just such a case where a 152 had a tire problem and circled around until the pilot felt confident enough to land(which required the story of the retractable landing gear). The press release the company put out stated it was nothing more than a blown tire, and the pilot was only circling for safety reasons, but the media decided to do their own thing anyways.
I would still agree though that it is better to put facts to the media, and if speculation is done on the boards, it is done in a professional manner - not the mud slinging, childest ranting that seems to preoccupy most forums...as fun as taking the devils advocate sometimes can be...