Actually the average F/O gets more than most journalists ever will see.... not an excuse for tabloid wars but ....
Reality of aviation news coverage:
1. Airline says nothing or denies
2. Journalist has intell (usually from airline staff)
3. Incident or occurrence is undeniable
4. Airline sticks head in sand or trots out Z grade media comment
5. Smart journo (not too many of these) gets facts - majority though in the absence of any real info from Airline has to play best guess
6. Punters & ppruners then play jounos and cliche circus starts
7. Story escalates
8. restart procedure at item 1.
On record - pilots are often just as bad as airlines when it comes to getting our story across. The lesson is if you are controlling the flow of authorative information you control the media game.
Sidebar Story: Melb & Syd trains have better OTP than QF/JQ & DJ - & there are at least 3 deaths each week on NSW & VIc railway tracks. Bit more substance than the 320 landing eh!
AT
