The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Posted: 20 Mar 2014 05:14 PM PDT

March 21, 2014

Zan Azlee is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, writer, New Media practitioner and lecturer. He runs Fat Bidin Media www.fatbidin.com

So, 14 days into the search and rescue effort for the missing MH370 flight and still no sign of anything concrete.

Well, we have a positive lead from the Australian authorities who said they might have discovered some parts of the aircraft in the Indian Ocean.

And, of course, as a journalist, you can definitely expect me to be on a flight right now to Perth as you are reading this column.

When the news first broke, the media went into a frenzy reporting all the details that started coming out on that first day or two.

But as the days went by, less and less information came out and that's when everything went into speculative mode as the international media tried to keep the story alive.

Of course, it had to be kept alive. It is one of the most important stories of all time. A huge Boeing 777 with 239 people on board vanishes mysteriously.

Theory after theory by expert after expert, and even amateur after amateur, was reported by the media just to reveal all the different possibilities of what had happened.

Why were they reporting the different "possibilities"? It's because they didn't have the slightest hint or clue of what actually happened.

In these last two days, if you have noticed, a lot of the media have even gone on to recap the speculations that have been happening throughout the past two weeks.

Some even went on to create top five or top 10 lists of the best, most plausible and even most absurd theories. I have to admit, I am guilty of this, too.

Many members of the public have been venting their frustrations and disappointment with the media for doing what they have been doing – creating speculation.

These people feel that if there is nothing real to say, then don't say anything at all because it will create confusion and probably offend the passengers' family members.

But the funny thing is, I've seen these same people who are calling for a stop to all this non-confirmed or non-corroborated information, spreading the very theories on the social media platforms.

Anyway, if even the authorities in charge of the investigations and search and rescue operations can't find out anything, what more can the ordinary folk do?

So, as much as the intention of the media is to build up the story and keep it alive to attract more audience and readers, it also raises questions.

The more questions, then the more possibilities the authorities can then look at to rule out in order to get closer to the objective of finding the missing aircraft.

The only thing that needs to be made clear is that when speculated theories are made, it must be clear that they are only speculated theories.

And the experts that are called to give their thoughts should be of credible and sound background so that the theories are at least actual possibilities.

Whatever it is, it is only natural for news gatherers to gather news from any other credible source if the initial source doesn't have any news for them.

At the end of the day, for the sake of the families, the staff of Malaysia Airlines and even the media who have been working so tireless, let's just hope the truth comes out. – March 21, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

The truth is out there