Friday, October 26, 2001

 

What's wrong with this picture?

OK. Last week a person was stopped by airport security becaue of a book he was carrying that had a picture of dynamite on the cover. But this week a man carries a loaded gun onto an airplane.

That's right. The man went through all the security checkpoints but managed to get onto the plane with a loaded gun in his briefcase. He had forgotten it was there and, when he opened his briefcase and saw it, gave it to a flight attendant who then took it to the cockpit, where it stayed for the remainder of the flight.

A security worker has been fired over the incident. Good.

There are many disturbing things about both of these stories, not the least of which is, if not for the Internet how many of us would have heard about them? I watch (listen to) an average of 4 to 6 hours of news programming a day. I didn't see or hear any coverage on either story.

Is this part of the censorship? Is the government telling the media not to report on what a mess everything really is? As a former journalist, I find this trend of not reporting news like this more than a little bit disturbing. The main purpose of journalism is to report the facts and let the public come to its own conclusion.

I understand not wanting to frighten the public any further, but I also believe we should be given all the facts. One of the facts right now is that airport security -- despite the presence of the National Guard -- doesn't seem to be any better than it was on Sept. 11.

The media is ignoring that, but flooding us with news of anthrax. Yes, the anthrax scare is disturbing but, obviously, the terrorists have specific targets and, unless the terrorists' tactics change, most Americans won't be directly affected. There are 50 states in this country. Four, along with the District of Columbia, have been affected. You do the math.

I'm not downplaying the fact that people have died because of it. I'm simply saying that the media's emphasis is wrong, and it's scaring people unnecessarily. Take, for example, the woman who "cooked" her mail in the microwave because she's afraid of anthrax.

I wish the media would start doing its job again and report responsibly -- and without bias.

posted by Anne 10/26/2001 08:26:00 AM