THE PLOT THINS?

posted by James Reel

    The only amusing thing about yesterday’s rout of two dozen people accused of planning to blow up airliners headed for America is that newscasters refer to an “alleged plot.” OK—journalists are trained not to prejudice a case in their reporting; news reports should not refer to “perpetrators” or “robbers” or “murderers” unless and until they have been convicted. Meanwhile, they’re just “suspects.” (But please, not “alleged suspects”; arrest doesn’t prove guilt, but it does officially place someone under suspicion.) Still, there’s something odd about hearing newscasters talk about an “alleged plot.” I’m not sure why, especially since there’s a long history of officials fabricating conspiracies in order to discredit their opponents, or shift attention away from a real problem. And, of course, our own FBI has great trouble distinguishing ordinary artists from bioterrorists, so I suppose “alleged plot” is, indeed, the best way to phrase it.
    I do wonder, though, why the British roundup of all those suspects sent the U.S. Department of Homeland Security into Keystone Kops mode at American airports. According to Michael Jackson, the deputy director of Homeland Security, “the conspiracy was directed at airlines with direct nonstop flights from the United Kingdom to the United States, including American Airlines, United Airlines and Continental” (that’s not a direct quote; it’s how a news service phrased it). So if planes leaving the U.K. were being targeted, why the contrived chaos at American airports?
    I hope the system is running smoother by September, when I’ll travel to Italy and back … via London. I have no desire to be blown up in midair, so I value reasonable and effective security protocols, but much of what goes on at airports looks like bureacratic bluster and macho posturing. Why weren’t any reporters yesterday asking if these measures were truly relevant to legitimate security concerns? Proper journalistic skepticism should go beyond using careful phrases like “alleged plot.”