Media screws up again...

"gatt" wrote in message
...

It's interesting watching pilots trash-talking journalists for not knowing
everything


Pilots don't trash-talk journalists for for not knowing everything. Pilots
trash-talk journalists for knowing nothing about aviation yet
authoritatively saying something about aviation that is incorrect and
frequently harmful to it.



and assuming that journalists make "big bucks." There's
interesting similarities. It's one of the highest-profile and most
treacherous trades, and also one of the lowest-paying.


Because it's something that just about anyone can do.

Sam wrote:

Here's the link:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...94/detail.html

Stall = Engine stall?? Why do they always seem to screw this up??

You know, if you reread the story, you'll see that it appears it wasn't
the reporter who made the error:

"Flight simulator technician Scott McKenna of Platteville said he saw
the plane appear to descend for an emergency landing when it slowed down
too much and the wing dipped. The pilot overcorrected and the engine
stalled, he said. The plane headed nose down, cartwheeled and landed on
its belly, McKenna said."

Assuming the attribution is correct, it was the source who got it wrong.
On the other hand, the reporter may have misinterpreted his statement.
Either way, don't you think it would be more productive to write to the
site and educate the reporter than just bitch about it?

In article ne.com, Andrew Gideon wrote:
But it had an airplane, so I was watching. And then the aircraft pitched
*way* up (avoiding terrain) and stalled. Except for the poor choice in
maneuvers, it was a decent stall, with the nose suddenly dropping.
However, what's that *sputtering* sound I hear!?!

On a point of pedantry, if you did that in our C140 with less than about
1/3rd fuel in the tank you had selected, the engine would indeed stop.
The fuel pickups are about the mid point between the front and back of
the tank, so as you pitch hard up, all the fuel slops to the back of the
tank. If the level is low enough, it'll unport as it all goes to the
back of the tank.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message newsxLxc.101

It's interesting watching pilots trash-talking journalists for not
knowing
everything

I work in Civil Engineering and when one of our people don't the answer,
they ask around to find someone who does. It's not hard, really.

Are their deadlines measured in hours or minutes like pressroom reporters
are?

and assuming that journalists make "big bucks."

Know how much the talking heads on TV make?

They make a lot, but they don't generally write the news content. That
usually comes off the AP wire from some reporter in the field who has to
file the stuff as fast as he or she possibly can. A lot of times, if they
don't file before a competitor, they don't get paid for the story which
means they may have wasted an entire day.

In fact, a crewmember of the B-17s "Outhouse Mouse" and "Nine-O-Nine" (91st
BG) said that a reporter who flew a combat mission was threatened by his
(the vet's) skipper with containment at gunpoint because he tried to bail
out over London to try to file the story first. The reporter was Walter
Cronkite.

There's
interesting similarities. It's one of the highest-profile and most
treacherous trades,

Yeah...so many got killed last year.

Gee. You are you suggesting that General Aviation is dangerous? ;

Seriously, though. You print something, even if it's TRUTH, and you hear
from lawyers threatening to sue you for thousands, tens of thousands,
millions, etc. One misprint can destroy a reporter's career or the
integrity of a publication. It's, like I said, treacherous.

and also one of the lowest-paying.

I doubt a $20K a year journalist is very influential, which is what we
were
talking about.

You'd be surprised. Is a $20K/year CFI not very influential?

-c

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message

It's interesting watching pilots trash-talking journalists for not
knowing
everything

Pilots don't trash-talk journalists for for not knowing everything.
Pilots
trash-talk journalists for knowing nothing about aviation yet
authoritatively saying something about aviation that is incorrect and
frequently harmful to it.

Everybody trash talks journalists for not knowing as much as they do about
whatever field of expertise they are in. See my point? Yet they still
read the papers, still watch the news...
We've got journalists coming home unceremoniously in body bags from Iraq.
Bet you don't even know their names, but I bet you've seen the footage of
action and soldiers in Iraq.

It's one of the highest-profile and most
treacherous trades, and also one of the lowest-paying.

Because it's something that just about anyone can do.

Yeah, and so is flying. Unlike most readers here, I'm willing to bet, I've
done both so I'm uniquely qualified to say that one is no more difficult
than the other.

Here's an actual case. A streetcar catches fire and because the streetcar
had inadequate or inoperative exits, the people inside tried to crawl out
the side windows but burned to death before they could get out. You've got
a public photo of a burned out streetcar with over a dozen charred corpses
still in the position of desperately trying to get out of the windows. Can
you, or can you not, publish the story? Quick: You have an hour to make
deadline.

Your former state governor is accused of repeatedly molesting a 13 year old
when he was the mayor of your city. Can you or can you not report the
story? If so, will his lawyers sue you anyway?

You witness a murder and recognize both the victim and the killer. Can you
or can you not print a story or show photos, and can you or can you not
print their names.

There's a school shooting. It's major news; people's kids are being killed.
What do you do?
Quick: IT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW AND YOU MUST REPORT FOR LIVE TELEVISION
RIGHT -NOW-.

One of my reporters--an unpaid intern--wrote a critical review of somebody
one time, telling the absolute truth, and ended up with his jaw wired shut
for eight weeks because the tweaker he wrote about saw him on the street.
I've been threatened with lawsuit, threatened with assault...sometimes for
articles I didn't even write.

Have any of you written reporters to correct them, or do you just complain?

-c

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
k.net...

Yes. It's their job. Reporters are generally expected to know
everything.

Really? By whom?

Ever edited a magazine and fielded complaints from, well, everybody?
Believe me; you make a mistake, or you're -perceived- to have made a
mistake, you're going to hear about it from the public. And it's always
prefaced with something like "hey, idiot."

The expectation comes from those who believe that they themselves
already
do.

Hmmm..... Why would such people pay any attention to reporters?

Because despite the arrogance and pomposity of much of the general public,
they still read newspapers, read news magazines, read web news and watch
news television.

That's why.

-c

"Rich Ahrens" wrote in message news:40c87dd2$0$90559

Assuming the attribution is correct, it was the source who got it wrong.
On the other hand, the reporter may have misinterpreted his statement.
Either way, don't you think it would be more productive to write to the
site and educate the reporter than just bitch about it?

WELL SAID! THANK YOU!

-c

"gatt" wrote in message
...

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message newsxLxc.101

It's interesting watching pilots trash-talking journalists for not
knowing
everything

I work in Civil Engineering and when one of our people don't the answer,
they ask around to find someone who does. It's not hard, really.

Are their deadlines measured in hours or minutes like pressroom reporters
are?

When an entire 100 man crew is waiting....yes.

"gatt" wrote in message
...

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message

It's interesting watching pilots trash-talking journalists for not
knowing
everything

Pilots don't trash-talk journalists for for not knowing everything.
Pilots
trash-talk journalists for knowing nothing about aviation yet
authoritatively saying something about aviation that is incorrect and
frequently harmful to it.

Everybody trash talks journalists for not knowing as much as they do about
whatever field of expertise they are in. See my point? Yet they still
read the papers, still watch the news...

Non-sequitur.

Women get raped, but they still go into town...

We've got journalists coming home unceremoniously in body bags from Iraq.
Bet you don't even know their names, but I bet you've seen the footage of
action and soldiers in Iraq.

Non-sequitur.

"gatt" wrote in message
...

"Rich Ahrens" wrote in message news:40c87dd2$0$90559

Assuming the attribution is correct, it was the source who got it wrong.
On the other hand, the reporter may have misinterpreted his statement.
Either way, don't you think it would be more productive to write to the
site and educate the reporter than just bitch about it?

WELL SAID! THANK YOU!

So why is that entire industry so impervious to correcting it's major fault?