REFLECTOR: OT Plane hits an apartment building in NYC

[Tom Martino]

First off ... I will confess that I am a member of the media. I have
written for newspapers, have a syndicated radio show (on consumer
topics) and work for Fox News (Rocky Mountain Bureau). I appear nightly
on Fox News in Denver and broadcast 4 hours of radio daily. I have been
in the media for more than 30 years.

I AGREE with the bashing the media is taking.  From my experience ... I
believe it is IGNORANCE and LAZINESS and not purposeful slanting.

Most Radio, TV and Newspaper reporters are not "specialists". They are
mostly general assignment people who don't have a clue about the
subjects they are covering. So they end up hearing something stupid from
some "know-it-all" and they end up repeating it. Then reporters start
listening to each other and actually start believing their own crap! And
they are too lazy to do their own research.

There are only a handful of "specialist" reporters who know what they
are talking about ... and many other "specialists" are pushing an agenda
in their particular field of expertise.

But I want to assure you that the ignorance is not limited to
broadcasting. The print media, in my opinion is worse. They can do all
of their reporting at their desk by telephone ... and they can
"misquote" freely because there is no taped record. At least broadcast
reporters are forced to be at the scene or usually have visual aids and
raw tape to hear what someone actually said.

But I believe ... the real "slant in news" is not necessarily HOW they
cover events ... but rather WHAT they cover.

I have a love-hate feeling about my industry. But please be aware that
there are some of us who take our responsibilities seriously.

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Dave Black
Sent: Saturday, October 14, 2006 2:58 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: OT Plane hits an apartment building in NYC

Richard,

> Now we know how badly the press screw up news stories about a subject
we 
> fully understand, does it not make you wonder how badly they screw up 
> stories about subjects we do not have the depth of understanding as we

> do with aviation? My favorite saying is, "The Press newer let the
truth 
> get in the way of a good story." ;-)

I worked in TV News for 35 years. Your assessment is absolutely correct.

  On EVERY story I've ever had personal knowledge of, the media (both 
broadcast and print) has screwed it up -- or at least distorted it. I 
now view ALL news reports with this in mind. And in the case of 
"Breaking news" -- I always tag the story with "We think something 
happened, but we really don't know what. But don't worry, that will not 
stop us from speculating endlessly."

Dave Black
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