I have respect for the media. I support free press. But I really think that all the major networks need to step up their aviation coverage. Just now, I watched NBC cover a gear up landing of a Cessna Citation. The coverage focused on not only this incident, but other hard landings AND A NORMAL CROSSWIND LANDING!!!! This type of coverage will terrify the flying public and foster misconceptions about routine procedures. Sensationalist and alarmist headlines like "Danger In The Sky" and "Airliner's Terrifying Plummet" are degrading the quality of the news, and sensationalizing CROSSWIND LANDINGS will give people a negative impression of flying. The NBC report included a snippet about a 777's crosswind landing, the reporter saying " 'INCREDIBLY' the pilots never lost control". WELL NO KIDDING!!! That type of landing, while dramatic, is routine and well within the design limits of the aircraft. I wish that NBC and all the networks would have their reporters LEARN a bit about what they're reporting instead of sensationalizing common procedures. What's next? "Pilots Fly Landings In Bad Weather By RADIO BEAMS!!"? "Pilots Can't Always See The Runway"? This needs to change.

Welcome to the circus known as Media & Aviation...

Whenever I see an aviation related story in the media and see that the facts are grossly inaccurate, I ask myself if the stories on matters that I'm less familiar with are equally inaccurate...

The media Especially the networks go if it Bleeds? it Leads format and a gear up landing is sensational because it has the potential for bleeding. Delta some years back had to land a 727 gear up at SFO and the story led for all of 2 days. they got pissed off when United recovered the airplane with Air Bags and towed the airplane off the runway. I doubt that it ever made much more of a blurb in the national news. I did hear the story of United 811 that the cargo door came off of in Honolulu for a while afterwards, Only because the airplane was repaired there and probably not scrapped. The airplane was damaged as one N number and returned to service with another. the guys from ABS and NBC were in the terminal when it came back form Hawaii to SFO and didn't know what they were looking at when it taxied right by them on the way to the hangar..

Journalists are great at finding information, not at verifying it. At the major news networks, they know how to get people watching and find good stories, not ensure the information they're telling is accurate. These people aren't aviation experts nor are they experts in crime, politics, or anything else they reported on.

The news is great to get a good overview of world events but if you want to know the nitty-gritty details or 100% factual information you have to do the research yourself.

Let me guess. Tom Costello breathlessly reporting the drama. Cue ABC News to do a like aviation report with David Kerley, who can report rather factual and straighforward information until they cut back to David Muir or Tom Llamas.
And to make it a factual report, show a Delta 727-200 landing in Atlanta in the "Wavy Gravy" paint scheme as they discuss a totally unrelated aviation incident.
I'd just like to be the guy to get the planes and story right for the reporters. Those two aviation reporters however should know better by now.

And who could ever forget this doozy... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmclgO6w0C0

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

I was dating a local anchorwoman here in SF and I’d bring up the constant aviation errors. She told me that they get things wrong in every area along with aviation stuff. So, what you say is likely very true.

For someone old enough to remember, I remember when all three big networks - and then later CNN - were respected new sources. Go watch any live reporting from the 1990's and you'll hear intelligent reporting of facts, and no "soundbytes" anywhere. I recently watched Peter Jennings from the Berlin Wall in November, 1989, and the level of vocabulary used was in much a much higher level than is currently used today.

That is, however, before the all-consuming drive for ratings took over everything. I shall refrain from any further discussion of my opinion on network news, as we are speaking only on aviation; however, I thought the reporting and explaining on the MAX issues was quite good.

A darn long time ago I reported for a few newspapers before I got $$$ signs in my eyes and switched to PR for a general aviation mfr. In the newspaper days I used to offer my "expertise" to fellow reporters who covered aviation stories. They, for the most part, wanted to be correct. Also, their editors were yelling for stories about car accidents, robberies, shootings, financial data and so on. Errors were made. But the intent was to be accurate and complete. Deadlines just didn't always allow for deep accuracy checks. Some, not all, embellished lied and took bribes. I believe most want to report accurately. All media is not incorrect. These folks are mostly trying to do the best they can under the circumstances.
We should keep working to get these reporters to report as accurately as possible. There will be successes.

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

Well, no, because we are all able to use our own heads and realize that there are certain subjects that are easy for people to understand and others that aren't. That's called critical thinking. Flying is a highly technical activity. I doubt most people on this forum itself even really understand it - that's why pilots go through all that training and need all that experience before they're ever allowed to fly passengers in mainline ops.

Reporting on politics or the stock market or whatever is a lot easier. People say things, people buy and sell stuff, whatever. That's not rocket science. Aviation is pretty close to being that, though.

These media threads come up a lot and they're always pretty pointless. If you don't want to believe *anything* the media says because they don't understand how a crosswind landing works, well, that's fine I guess. That's kind of just you shutting off your brain, though. How about evaluating what they say on a case by case basis?

You mean to tell me that TV News programs sensationalize stories and tell half facts about what they are reporting on!?!?!? Who would have thunk it!?

It's not what they know, it's what brings in views/clicks. People will frequently dumb things down to cater to the masses.

It's not just the way aviation news is presented by the networks these days. Everything is introduced as "breaking news" and given as much hype and exaggeration as possible regardless of when it happened or how important it is. The days of Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, and Peter Jennings are long gone.

The mainstream media...

No. None of the news networks do.

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

Lester Holt's brother is indeed an AS pilot. The inflight magazine had a story about them back in May I think. But yes, as someone else said, the news gets a lot of things wrong, this just happens to be one area where we as av-geeks know much finer details than they do.

B757Forever wrote:

Whenever I see an aviation related story in the media and see that the facts are grossly inaccurate, I ask myself if the stories on matters that I'm less familiar with are equally inaccurate...

Funny, I had this exact conversation with another pilot at work today. Never had much trust in the MSM but after becoming a pilot and seeing aviation reporting in the MSM, it really made me realize that they're so full of it in aviation, something they don't understand, so what's to say they're not full of it in other area,s and we'd be none the wiser?

I always hate the "Aviation Experts" they bring on air. There is probably a reason they're on your crappy news channel blabbing about nonsense rather than, you know, flying aircraft

No media organization knows a thing about aviation, whether or not certain elements call them the "MSM." Only the aviation press is worth listening to.

my biggest beef with the media is when they say stuff like "we were on the runway for so and so hours" when if fact they were on a ramp or taxi way. I wish they would use the correct terminology even though most people don't know the difference between a ramp and runway.

Well, while we're ranting about (the abysmal) news reporting on aviation issues, let me bring this up: "Tarmac" is a material, NOT a place. An aircraft can be on a tarmac ramp (although it's highly unlikely, as most commercial airport ramps and taxiways are concrete).

You must be new to aviation. The media is usually always wrong when it comes to aviation, apart from the Tampa bay station that revealed a major G4 scandal that was right on the money. But then again, I don't expect a reporter who doesn't care one bit about aviation to be accurate either, which is understandable as their jobs are to analyze politics and natural disasters, not fly planes. What we need is a pilot here to get a job at a news station haha.

N1120A wrote:

No media organization knows a thing about aviation, whether or not certain elements call them the "MSM." Only the aviation press is worth listening to.

It's funny how people here expect some scantily dressed female news reporter with a degree in communications or political science to know a thing about aviation.

stl07 wrote:

N1120A wrote:

No media organization knows a thing about aviation, whether or not certain elements call them the "MSM." Only the aviation press is worth listening to.

It's funny how people here expect some scantily dressed female news reporter with a degree in communications or political science to know a thing about aviation.

If they are even that. Fox News on occasion will admit that they’re really just an infotainment company masquerading as a news outlet. The latter of which tends to hire actual journalists people who have to take ethics classes etc. Most people at Fox are/were actors.

Normal diversion due to minor problem.

Avgeeks: meh

Media: JUMBO JET 737 MAX EMERGENCY LANDING

Just SOP in American media. The public believe headlines like ‘out of control crime in California’ when violent crime is half the level of 1992 and 1/3 less than in 1980. Proper context for anything is the exception rather than the rule.

DeltaMD90 wrote:

B757Forever wrote:

Whenever I see an aviation related story in the media and see that the facts are grossly inaccurate, I ask myself if the stories on matters that I'm less familiar with are equally inaccurate...

---

I always hate the "Aviation Experts" they bring on air. There is probably a reason they're on your crappy news channel blabbing about nonsense rather than, you know, flying aircraft

CNN has that one Brit Richard something (Quest maybe) that I swear couldn't find the nose of a jet if it hit him.
Typically when a network has some one in if thier lower 1/3rd doesn't say something like Airline Pilot, NTSB, FAA, or some other agency combo (former as well) I just assume the 'aviation expect' is the travel reporter who flys often but can't really tell a wing tip from a pitot tube.
I did enjoy seeing the APG podcasts own Capt. Jeff on the Weather Channel a while back as an 'aviation expert' and the occasional times they bring Sully in as he at least has something to contribute even if I don't always agree with his position.

Does NBC Know What They're Talking About Regarding Aviation?

FTFY

gunsontheroof wrote:

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

Lester Holt's brother is indeed an AS pilot. The inflight magazine had a story about them back in May I think. But yes, as someone else said, the news gets a lot of things wrong, this just happens to be one area where we as av-geeks know much finer details than they do.

I believe he has retired?

The media in general typically makes no attempt to be accurate at all when it comes to aviation.

I first noticed this around 9/11 when I was still a pretty young kid. I remember thinking - if the media reports this sloppily on aviation, are they this uninformed about most things they report on?

The media can turn an average snow fall in a national disaster, what chance does aviation have?

[*]

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

You mention Lester Holt...one of his hobbies is flight simulator. Before he started Nightly News, he had done a “get to know me” segment, and that was something he mentioned.

T18 wrote:

DeltaMD90 wrote:

B757Forever wrote:

Whenever I see an aviation related story in the media and see that the facts are grossly inaccurate, I ask myself if the stories on matters that I'm less familiar with are equally inaccurate...

---

I always hate the "Aviation Experts" they bring on air. There is probably a reason they're on your crappy news channel blabbing about nonsense rather than, you know, flying aircraft

CNN has that one Brit Richard something (Quest maybe) that I swear couldn't find the nose of a jet if it hit him.
Typically when a network has some one in if thier lower 1/3rd doesn't say something like Airline Pilot, NTSB, FAA, or some other agency combo (former as well) I just assume the 'aviation expect' is the travel reporter who flys often but can't really tell a wing tip from a pitot tube.
I did enjoy seeing the APG podcasts own Capt. Jeff on the Weather Channel a while back as an 'aviation expert' and the occasional times they bring Sully in as he at least has something to contribute even if I don't always agree with his position.

Richard Quest is an insult to anyone who knows even the bare bones basics of aviation. He has absolutely NO background in it.

The media is so outright BAD when it comes to getting things on aviation correct, that most of my friends listen to media reports, then ask me what’s going on. Back when the MAX groundings were new, one of my friends went into a panic because the news report she watched claimed it was an issue with ALL 737’s, and she was scheduled to fly somewhere on Southwest.

I will say that if a miracle happens and I get a job in my field — journalism — I’m gonna work to stop some of the inaccuracies on aviation related stories.

Marc

To be fair, this is an aviation website and people here get things wrong all the time regarding aviation.

Cadet985 wrote:

[*]

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

You mention Lester Holt...one of his hobbies is flight simulator. Before he started Nightly News, he had done a “get to know me” segment, and that was something he mentioned.

T18 wrote:

DeltaMD90 wrote:

---

I always hate the "Aviation Experts" they bring on air. There is probably a reason they're on your crappy news channel blabbing about nonsense rather than, you know, flying aircraft

CNN has that one Brit Richard something (Quest maybe) that I swear couldn't find the nose of a jet if it hit him.
Typically when a network has some one in if thier lower 1/3rd doesn't say something like Airline Pilot, NTSB, FAA, or some other agency combo (former as well) I just assume the 'aviation expect' is the travel reporter who flys often but can't really tell a wing tip from a pitot tube.
I did enjoy seeing the APG podcasts own Capt. Jeff on the Weather Channel a while back as an 'aviation expert' and the occasional times they bring Sully in as he at least has something to contribute even if I don't always agree with his position.

Richard Quest is an insult to anyone who knows even the bare bones basics of aviation. He has absolutely NO background in it.

The media is so outright BAD when it comes to getting things on aviation correct, that most of my friends listen to media reports, then ask me what’s going on. Back when the MAX groundings were new, one of my friends went into a panic because the news report she watched claimed it was an issue with ALL 737’s, and she was scheduled to fly somewhere on Southwest.

I will say that if a miracle happens and I get a job in my field — journalism — I’m gonna work to stop some of the inaccuracies on aviation related stories.

Marc

Just one more reason Lester Holt / NBC should doing a better job when repotting on aviation matters

Cadet985 wrote:

[*]

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

You mention Lester Holt...one of his hobbies is flight simulator. Before he started Nightly News, he had done a “get to know me” segment, and that was something he mentioned.


Marc

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainmen ... wife.html/
According to this, he can ID a plane fling overhead by sound. I'd want to see proof but I think that in his defense, that's pretty cool. Not to say that he doesn't mess up aviation reporting, though.

So think about this for a minute. Most on this forum are knowledgeable with different areas of aviation, so when the media runs a story about aviation it’s mostly wrong. When you see a report about something you know very little or nothing about how do you no they’re correct ?
This is why I don’t watch local news cast, it is just a show.

alasizon wrote:

Welcome to the circus known as Media & Aviation...

Only person I listen to is Greg Feith. The rest are clueless.

NIKV69 wrote:

alasizon wrote:

Welcome to the circus known as Media & Aviation...

Only person I listen to is Greg Feith. The rest are clueless.

A CFI at a school I used to frequent boasted a collection of what he called ‘Greg Feith ties’

He’s great, just has atrocious taste in clothes.

T18 wrote:

DeltaMD90 wrote:

B757Forever wrote:

Whenever I see an aviation related story in the media and see that the facts are grossly inaccurate, I ask myself if the stories on matters that I'm less familiar with are equally inaccurate...

---

I always hate the "Aviation Experts" they bring on air. There is probably a reason they're on your crappy news channel blabbing about nonsense rather than, you know, flying aircraft

CNN has that one Brit Richard something (Quest maybe) that I swear couldn't find the nose of a jet if it hit him.
Typically when a network has some one in if thier lower 1/3rd doesn't say something like Airline Pilot, NTSB, FAA, or some other agency combo (former as well) I just assume the 'aviation expect' is the travel reporter who flys often but can't really tell a wing tip from a pitot tube.
I did enjoy seeing the APG podcasts own Capt. Jeff on the Weather Channel a while back as an 'aviation expert' and the occasional times they bring Sully in as he at least has something to contribute even if I don't always agree with his position.

Richard Quest is a guy who likes to travel who has a casual interest in the industry, which is more than most in the news, but still doesn't know much. Still better than the TMZs and Foxs of the world.

DALMD80 wrote:

Cadet985 wrote:

[*]

BravoOne wrote:

You would think NBC would be a lot be a lot better as I think Lester Holt's brother was the former VP of Flight Ops at Alaska Airlines. Kind of makes you wonder about all the other "news" that we see from the mainline news organiztions?

You mention Lester Holt...one of his hobbies is flight simulator. Before he started Nightly News, he had done a “get to know me” segment, and that was something he mentioned.


Marc

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainmen ... wife.html/
According to this, he can ID a plane fling overhead by sound. I'd want to see proof but I think that in his defense, that's pretty cool. Not to say that he doesn't mess up aviation reporting, though.

That is cool. Thanks to working so many air shows as a teenager in CAP and living on the approach path to several airports, I can do that too. I’m pretty accurate, but I do sometimes get the 320 series wrong. A couple years ago, I heard a strange noise in the air — a strange jet. Come to find out it was an A380 diversion. That was the first and so far only time I’ve heard (or even seen) a 380.

Marc