Lately I’ve heard a fear expressed increasingly often that what we say about aviation safety issues in public, or in private meetings or even in response to surveys trying to map behavior patterns, has the potential to threaten the industry with legislative or regulatory trouble if the statements get twisted by journalists or, are used in a vicious Internet post that goes viral.
I recognize that a lot of what we discuss is so esoteric, so far removed from the language and frame of reference of most people, that it easily can be misunderstood, sometimes to the point of creating short-term damage. That is one reason we don’t release material from our working meetings until issues have been hammered out and vetted. The other reason is that most journalists, even aviation specialists, cannot devote the time needed to wade through all of the discussions, the back-and-forth debates and investigations that eventually arrive at a valuable conclusion.
Journalists need to budget their time…
