The story of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is horrific, but the media does not appear to fully appreciate the situation, according to Former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.
In an interview with The Daily Caller, the former Air Force Chief of Staff expressed frustration at the news media’s — largely television news — sensationalzation of the missing Malaysia Flight 370.
“A lot of people on TV were journalist majors or something that offered no understanding of this, but they are looking to sensationalize or emotionalize the event. It’s a horrific event — I mean I got it,” Moseley said. “But there is a very empirical, objective process that you have to go through to find the truth.”
“Fuzzying it up and getting everybody all excited maybe great for ratings but it may not be useful,” he said.
Moseley pointed out that while the viewing public is largely not involved in the investigations — which require a methodical viewing of the evidence — and that he understands the networks are highlight competitive, the use of a tragedy for ratings is unsettling to him.
“I would hope people would try not to capture sensationalism and emotionalism into an event that we had 200-something people and children [likely] killed, including U.S. citizens,” Moseley said.
He lamented that some of the television coverage has seemed more like entertainment than reporting.
“I think it’s one thing to try to get as much information as much information as you possibly can in a very factual way and a very objective way,” he explained. “I think it’s another to begin to sensationalize things, almost for — I hate to say it this way — but almost for entertainment sake,” Moseley said. “That’s not good.”
According to Moseley, while no scenario should be discounted until all the evident is lined up, he currently believes there is about a 10 percent chance the flight’s disappearance was due to a catastrophic event like an electrical fire. More likely, he said the flight was the victim of foul play.
“I believe there is an 85 percent – 90 percent chance something perhaps nefarious has happened here,” he said, pointing to either pilot suicide or that the plane was stolen to be reused or sold for other purposes.
The retired general stressed, however, that the scenario of the plane being taken, landing, and parked would require serious planning and knowledge.
He added that there is a “high probability” that the plane will eventually be found.
“It may not be today or it may not be to the satisfaction of CNN or MSNBC and all these other people, but I think we’ll know,” he said.