They really are a bloody lost cause ....!
Who? The ABC?
If so I would put it more like typical journos. They are unfortunately just going on what they are being told and probably don't know enough to have much of an idea as to the veracity of it. And of course, the editor in chief will be telling them to "sex it up".
I guess the headline "Sydney-bound Qantas plane makes 30,000ft emergency descent after air conditioning fails" doesn't quite have the same grab as saying it "plunged".
I heard another reporter from one of the commercials say last week that a flight which turned back en route to Port Hedland due to weather was a 747 rather than the correct 737. Just a bit of difference but they don't know enough to query it.