I hear you A&C and I'm sure we are two sides of the same coin.
As a pilot we should be less interested in how lawyers earn there money than about the process that decides and governs how we and others fly. After all very often it takes an event that gets the AAIB involved for other pilots to even be made aware what goes on elsewhere with other spheres of aviation - yet at some point we are in the same sky.
The irony with the typical lawyer argument is that when you press someone for example it won't be long before Rogers v Hoyle gets thrown in there. Despite the aviation world getting its pants in a twist over the use of an AAIB report in court during the build up, ultimately it made no difference. The plaintiff's case ultimately was unsuccessful.
Its the same with this fashion of pointing a finger at the media when actually I don't think they are so terrible. Maybe they miss name a type of aircraft, maybe they use poor terminology in trying to describe events (stunt pilot, loop the loops and the the "B" is randomly switched in Air Accident Investigation... etc). That said is that the worst we suffer?
Maybe the "media' just listen to any summer Sunday RT and roll their eyes in confusion.. "Errr..Hullo...Golf....err.....request....errr....passin g.. err no overhead, etc."
I digress. The point is that yes there is 24hour news, internet feeds, social media. So why not produce robust and professional press releases? The AAIB could easily send out a release that sets out the work they are doing and when there will be an update. How hard can that be?
It seems very hard because with Glasgow they explained that they had a draft final and gave a very broad final release date - which they then missed! It was post that expectation and the continued silence that triggered others, including political figures, to get involved.
Looking at part of the Glasgow report (page 79 & 80 if you care to find it) talks about a 3-4 min delta between No1 and No2 engine flameout when in the event it was 32 seconds. How that sits in the mind of other 135 pilots and what their personal plan is in the event of OEI who knows but that kind of information is of a timely nature and its release nothing to do with the whims or desires of lawyers and the "media".
Who knows what Shoreham will uncover ultimately but the aviation community is served better and serves the public better if we get on with it and move beyond arguments as fundamental if it was even a 1/4 clover or not!