Media Hype
J. Kevin Tumlinson

A Pakistan college student gets on a plane on September 11 and stows his belongings in an overhead. He's passed through the rigorous security checks, the metal detectors, and the armed guards.

Because he is from Pakistan, with dark skin and dark hair and an accent, he is watched. It is, after all, one year after the vicious terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. So our student friend is watched closely and a stewardess, preferring the term "flight attendant," notices the small knife in his pocket.

Visions of fiery explosions fill her head. She moves to the front cabin and warns the pilot. Immediately two jet fighters are sent to intercept and escort the aircraft, with orders to shoot it down if it does not comply.

When the plane lands it is already famous. Reporters from every major news affiliate, show up to get the scoop on what has now become national news. On ABC the story is that there is an act of possible terrorism in progress.

It turned out to be a folding comb.

The media runs with the story. Now they have two angles, not just one.

The first: Look at the bravery! The flight attendant who reported what she saw! The pilot who locked the door to the cockpit and alerted authorities! The brave fighter pilots who escorted the plane to the ground, ready to shoot it down if necessary!

The second: Look at the prejudice! Look at how this man was victimized for the color of his skin! Look at his outrage as he states that he would like to hear from the airline.

If these two views had been the opinions of two different networks, they would make perfect sense. But these two views, completely opposed to each other in every way, came from the same newscast!

The point? I believe that the networks covering the event were preparing to go with whatever might happen with the story. If the passenger became outraged, filed suit and won, the original news story was slanted ever so slightly as to run with that angle.

But if the airline was judged as justified in how it handled the situation, the story could still be slanted towards that outcome.

Never mind that this guy was an idiot for carrying a comb that looked like a pocketknife onto an airplane on September 11. Never mind that the reason the "knife" was spotted at all had just as much to do with the fact that the student was from Pakistan as it had to do with the stewardess being observant. The media has chosen to go with both angles.

To the media, especially television news, I say this: even handed, unbiased news reporting is not "setting up" a story so you can take advantage of both angles. Report the facts. Keep the drama for your fall lineup.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is a writer and a schoolteacher living in Lake Jackson, TX. He always plays all the angles.