AS soon as something happens, people rush to pronounce judgments based on the explanations and interpretations they read in the press. In most cases these are not only false but also inconsistent with the facts. Take, for example, the recent unsuccessful attempt to hijack a Saudia plane in Sudan. Several contradictory reports were immediately published in the local papers.
One paper said the lone Saudi hijacker had a history of mental illness and, according to his family, had spent time in a psychiatric hospital in Taif. The next day another newspaper reported that there was no record of the hijacker’s having been in the hospital.
Yet another paper described the man as a mentally disturbed individual who sometimes turned violent and that he was a known troublemaker in his family and among his neighbors. Another report said the man was religious, careful to perform his prayers, and was polite to people.
We were told the hijacker was unemployed and unhappy. Then we were told the man loved to travel and usually went abroad twice or more every year. Then of course there was another report that maintained he had never set foot outside the Kingdom. Reports said that he had married two women before leaving his hotel with the gun that he intended to use in the hijacking. He was said to have planned to force the plane to fly to London where he would request political asylum. Others said he planned to fly to Doha to appear on Al-Jazeera TV. A third report, needless to say, denied everything.
Would somebody please tell us what is going on? What is our media doing? Have they no sense of responsibility and no desire to report facts? All killers here are said to be mentally deranged. A person who commits an unusual crime is said to be mad. A juvenile is always said to be ungrateful and inattentive to his parents.
Where is the truth? Do we always tell the truth? Why not call a spade a spade? Just tell people what happened. The bare facts would be better for everybody. When are we going to stop feeding people stories that both we and they know full well are fabrications?
20 October 2002
