MARCH 19, 2014 IN DEFENSE OF ENDLESS FLIGHT 370 COVERAGE POSTED BY AMY DAVIDSON The defining image of the

search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, on its twelft h day, was not of the empty ocean but of a crowded room in Kuala Lumpur, from wh ich a middle-aged woman was pulled, screaming. She was looking for her son, who was on the plane. His name was Li Le, and he was thirty-six years old. His mothe r and other relatives had made their way into the official Malaysian press brief ing, carrying banners that asked reporters for help. They just keep brushing us o ff, telling us to keep waiting and waiting for information, she said of the Malay sians, according to a translation by CNN. Her voice turned into a punctuated wai l: My dear I don t know where my dear is twelve days! My son! Where is my son? Why don t yo u give me an answer? My son. She was still standing, despite her grief, until some men working security took her arms and dragged her out, almost horizontal. She might have slipped out of v iew, if not for the reporters pressed around her, many of them Chinese, who illu minated her face with camera lights. According to the BBC, correspondents faced a wall of police when trying to speak to relatives after the news conference. Afte rward, the Malaysians said that they wished that it hadn t played out quite that w ay. It didn t look so good. For some people, there has been quite enough coverage of Flight 370 too much. For others, there hasn t been nearly enough. There is a good argument that a little mo re coverage of, say, Ukraine would be in order at the moment, or of Syria, or of the Central African Republic, though it is a bit wishful to imagine that, but f or Flight 370, those matters would have the world s full attention. And among thos e who would wish for fewer bright lights in hotel lobbies in Kuala Lumpur seem t o be Malaysian government officials. This is a drama of transparency, as well as one of disaster. The Malaysian authorities, after almost two weeks of unconcerned contradiction, seem to be wilting a little, and asking for more of the help that they so clearl y need. The Australians were asked to take the lead in searching large reaches o f the Indian Ocean. They say that they ve now targeted a particular six hundred th ousand square kilometers; that s what passes for narrowing down in this story. [Up date: On Thursday, the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that a satelli te had spotted objects possibly related to the search, although he cautioned that it might be nothing. Planes and ships from four countries are now looking for th em in waters a thousand five hundred miles southwest of Perth.] On Wednesday, Ma laysia asked the F.B.I. if it could recover deleted files from a flight simulato r taken from the pilot s house. The F.B.I. seems to think that it can, although, b efore anyone could get too excited, we were helpfully presented with experts saying that a good number of pilots had simulators like that, and that it wasn t so unusu al to clear out files. We keep talking about the pilots because some human being does seem to have repr ogrammed the plane s navigation system so that it changed course. And we keep talk ing about this story, generally, because we can t quite make what we know about th e plane s journey fit our models of how human beings pilots, passengers, political t errorists, criminal hijackers operate. (Upending those models can be quite a good thing.) And we are a little startled to learn that aviation experts can t make sen se of it from their end, either. It is easy to get the feeling that they are, to uchingly, asking for our theories and assistance. We would be glad to be called to the cockpit, to help fly this plane. That is all fascinating and compelling engagement has its own value although, as far as those aspects are concerned, we are curious observers. We might find the sol

ution, or point to the runway we think it was aiming for, or the deep part of th e ocean it ended up in. Still, barring the sort of scenario one really only find s in The Adventures of Tintin (see Flight 714 ), in which the two hundred and thirtynine people onboard are all now tied up at a remote jungle airstrip, waiting for rescue, we can t change its fate. But we also have ideas about how government officials and transportation executi ves, and the press, should work. And when the reality is at odds with that when it is jarring, and enraging, or makes a middle-aged woman scream at a room full of strangers why should one ever look away? Tragedy, as Jiayang Fan points out in a post on the reaction to the plane s loss on Weibo, can reshuffle all sorts of expe ctations. Li Le s mother s pain cannot define the limits of our attention, because it is bound less; in a world of crises, she is not as alone as she must now feel. There are many tragedies that we are called to look at. Another, tomorrow morning, might p ush Flight 370 aside. But we re not done looking at it yet; it is still our useful mystery. 33 comments 20 people listening Newest | Oldest spritrigMar 24, 2014 The military without insignia benefits the most from flight 370 diverting attent ion away from the occupation of Crimea. The Inmarsat data shows equal probabili ty of northward and southward courses. There should be northern and southern se arch areas. Kazakhstan has not given permission to be used as a search staging point. The soldiers occupying Crimea aren't russian. "Kazakhstan said on Monday it had not detected any "unsanctioned use" of its air space by any planes on March 8..." "We are awaiting permission for Kazakhstan to be used as a staging point," Search for "Kazakhstan 370". FlagShareLikeReply TocquevilleMar 22, 2014 Contrary to some comments herewith written, I am for an unlimited extension of f light 370 coverage by Davidson. The reason is that while she writes on MH370, sh e does not tell malarkeys on Ukraine, or Syria, or Lybia, or Egypt ; she does no t slander the Clintons ; she does not give the ultimate kick of the mule to Gov. Chris Christie ; she does not judge Pistorius ahead of the judges ; she does no t mock Judge Scalia ; she does not It s true that Davidson posts on MH370 is not completely harmless. She can t write a nything without dissing someone. And you can see that MH370 is a great opportuni ty do diss the Malaysians, who never were on her diss list before. But nothing i s perfect and, other things being equal, she will do with MH370 the smallest of all bigger harms. FlagShareLikeReply Kenji1Mar 23, 2014 @Tocqueville Can't you see how pathologically weird it is to say the same things over and over again about one writer at the NYer online? And, seriously, you ar

e the last person who should be criticizing a writer for "dissing someone". Why don't you just start your own blog? No one's going to hand you this one, no matt er how loudly you squeal. FlagShareLikeReply TocquevilleMar 23, 2014 @Kenji1 @Tocqueville You've completely discredited yourself as "sherif" of this blog. If you're the only one Davidson counts on to discourage free comments, she must be in bad shape.

FlagShare1LikeReply Kenji1Mar 23, 2014 @Tocqueville @Kenji1 Your "free comments" are costly to others, who are actually interested in what the actual writers, and readers, have to say. FlagShareLikeReply TocquevilleMar 23, 2014 @Kenji1 Your systematic pollution of the comment strings is a disgrace, and your ambitio n to police them without having the brains to do that elegantly is a pity. What you must think is a mission from God is in fact driven by your recognition of Da vidson s fervent support to the 9 % category (your defintion) you belong to. It is e vident from anything you write that you also belong to your (self defined) 28 % category. In fact, one could be more precise in your special case : you lie in t he 0.1 % most stupid quantile.

FlagShare1LikeReply Kenji1Mar 23, 2014 @Tocqueville What is there about "restraining order" you don't understand? FlagShareLikeReply TocquevilleMar 23, 2014 @Kenji1 ?

PS : in case you ve blown a fuse, rush to the nearest ICU. FlagShareLikeReply amacd2Mar 22, 2014 The vaunted NYT (along with the New Yorker) seem to be falling behind in coverag e of this all important story. MSNBC and FOX News have already announced 24x7 coverage of only this one story -- in a concerted effort to get all Americans to focus on this distraction and a void thinking at all about the probable coming WWIII between the Disguised Globa l Empire (calling itself the US) and the Empire's current target, Russia.

BTW, how the hell did that old fundamentalist religious nut, Rev. Hagar, become an "aviation expert consultant" on MSNBC? Just this morning as I turned on the TV, I was greeted with full-time coverage o f this insanely prolonged and faux-heart wrenching story of MH370 on all three v acuous networks; NBC, CBS, and ABC,plus wall to wall really looney coverage on F OX, MSNBC and a host of even more stupid TV stations ---- all of course followed by the important news of what Michele Obama is wearing in China, and puppies dy ing in a fire in Maine. WOW. I guess that pretty much covers all the news that 's worth covering today on the telescreens from Big Brother's disguised Empire. On another issue about the missing jet 'story' FOX's and MSNBC's crack investiga tive reporters are trying to figure out why there is apparent collaboration betw een the seemingly different interests of Exxon and those network 'aviation exper ts', in their combined efforts to have coverage of this story and continuing lon g distance 'search flights' continuing forever. The latest news on this strange collaboration of lobbying efforts is that they are yet to understand why such a commonality of interests could possibly exist. The only encouraging thing I noticed this week about the 'lost airplane' story i s that the first two callers on C-Span's "Washington Journal" bravely and intell igently mentioned that the over-coverage of this useless shit is just acting as a way of distracting the public from the far more important reporting of what th e hell Obama and his faux leadership is doing to gin-up WWIII for the Global Emp ire that they represent. Thus, proving that some of the people in what passes for our country are not yet as stupid and anesthetized as the EMPIRE hopes. Best luck and love to the fast expanding 'Occupy the Empire' educational and non -violent revolutionary movement against this deceitful and Disguised Global EMPI RE, which can't so easily be identified as wearing Red Coats, Red Stars, nor fun ny looking Nazi helmets ---- quite YET! Liberty, democracy, justice, and equality Over Violent ('Vichy' disguised) Empire, Alan MacDonald Sanford, Maine We don't merely have a "Big Money"/Citizens United problem, or a domestic tyrann y and NSA SPYING problem, or a gun/fear problem, or an MIC problem, or an 'Auste rity' problem, or an EXPANDING WARS problem, or a 'drone assassinations' problem , or a vast income & wealth inequality problem, or a Wall Street 'looting' probl em, or a Global Warming and environmental death-spiral problem, or the world's l argest political prisoner problem, or a crappy un-healthy insurance problem, or, or, or ... ad nauseam --- but what we REALLY have is a hidden VEMPIRE cancerous tumor of GLOBAL EMPIRE which is the prime CAUSE of all these underlying, relate d, and mere 'symptom problems'. FlagShareLikeReply hectorlMar 22, 2014 J.C. Land, said it all below. No further comment on that.

In the meantime, we did learn about our president's "brackets", and of his dispu te with Ellen about selfies, and, oh, Putin tool over the Crimea and still threa tens eastern Ukraine. FlagShare2LikeReply LaocoonMar 21, 2014 I read through the article and never found the defense of endless coverage that the heading promised. This story is representative of a great many stories in t he news -- instead of constant tweets and 7x24 coverage, the average person with out a personal stake in the events, would be better served by just getting a wee kly summary and update, even though the endless coverage is titillating and prom otes a sense of involvement.

Certainly you can see the appeal of such stories to the media. It becomes a rel atively easy way to fill the gaping 7x24 news hole and it doesn't require any kn owledge or any real analysis to just keep repeating what the latest anonymous ex perts and authorities are saying. Borowitz has it right in targeting CNN! Oh, wait, did I miss Wolf Blitzer reporting that it could have been an alien abducti on? FlagShare3LikeReply supersouperMar 21, 2014 @jmr << That said, "lack of transparency" is a politically correct euphemism for mendacity, one of the hallmarks of Islamic regimes everywhere.>> One of the hallmarks of regimes, period. How account for James Clapper or Sir Ro bert 'economical with the truth' Armstrong, or the parallel universe of Vladimir Putin or the black hole that is North Korea with this generalisation? You and I may live in bits of the world that stick a little higher out of the swamp but i t's only a matter of degree.

Fixating on Islam will give you a squint.

FlagShare2LikeReply jmrMar 21, 2014 In an early story about MH370 was the complaint of the families about officials' not talking to them, and in the next line was a family member excoriating an of ficial: "If you have no information, then what are you doing here?" It's a nowin situation. That said, "lack of transparency" is a politically correct euphemism for mendaci ty, one of the hallmarks of Islamic regimes everywhere. By the way, we certainly can make what we know about MH370 fit our model of how journalists operate: like locusts and maggots. FlagShareLikeReply Kenji1Mar 21, 2014 @jmr Is that your final journal entry, then?

FlagShareLikeReply TocquevilleMar 21, 2014 @Kenji1 (or 15) : why don't you post your comments on the Mickey Mouse web site ? FlagShare1LikeReply Kenji1Mar 21, 2014 @Tocqueville @Kenji1 Really? That's the best you can do? FlagShareLikeReply TocquevilleMar 21, 2014 @Kenji1 It's a good advice. You'll like Goofy. FlagShareLikeReply Kenji1Mar 21, 2014 @Tocqueville @Kenji1 It's "a good advice"? Thank a you! FlagShareLikeReply TocquevilleMar 21, 2014 @Kenji1 You're so cute ! FlagShareLikeReply gschandyMar 26, 2014 @jmr: I am no supporter of 'Islamic regimes' - but I do believe that "mendacity " is a characteristic of practically ALL regimes - Islamic and other. Did you not witness the mendacity of the Obama regime while it was responding to the Snowden disclosures about its eavesdropping on citizens, friends, and etc? GSC FlagShareLikeReply JCLandMar 20, 2014 As a former journo I know too well how all this works. Ms. Davidson, your commen tary provides a necessary rationale to defend news coverage. However, much of th e coverage is motivated by editors and producers looking for: a) "easy" news to fill air time, web space and news holes; b) drama; c) conflict. My problem with all ongoing news coverage is its repetitiveness, its willingness to give credenc e to any sort of speculation and its propensity for tainting the reputations of people based on the merest shred of possibly suspicious behavior. Who among us c ould withstand such intense scrutiny? Were I an editor or producer, and I was an editor, I would say no more stories until something really new could be reporte d, and the source of which could be vetted to determine expertise. Remember, eco nomics is at play here. Hundreds of journos have been flown across the Pacific, or from nearby continents, to swarm. That expense must be covered, at all costs -- human and ethical. FlagShare2LikeReply Keith15Mar 20, 2014 239 souls missing and presumed dead, and that's not newsworthy? FlagShare1LikeReply ThomasHMar 21, 2014 @Keith15 It is newsworthy when there is additional information. Do you have some ? All I see is news coverage on the fact that there is no new information. One i ndicent, twenty-four hour coverage for a couple of weeks. It is disproportionate , and even the apologists know that. FlagShare2LikeReply

Keith15Mar 21, 2014 @ThomasH @Keith15 The very expensive search that's taking place is interesting, to see how it's done, where it's done, the numerous nations joining together in a common goal, the hardware used, ETC, I find it somewhat compelling even if oth er people don't, many people though are fascinated by the story even if you're n ot. FlagShare1LikeReply ThomasHMar 20, 2014 All the coverage has helped HOW?

You are just a bunch of peeping toms, hoping to make a buck off someone else's e motions. FlagShareLikeReply fa477279Mar 20, 2014 I can't stand when the Chinese act this way. There's this uniquely chinese aspec t to grieving and mourning for lost kids, grandkids, etc. And yes I feel bad for them and it's a pity this happened. But this Chinese phenomenon has run its cou rse. Women cry and scream and break down uncontrollably in public. Its all a sho w. And you know why? Because large percentages of these fathers, mothers, grandp arents are/were reliant on their offspring to provide them a place to live, food , and comfortable lifestyle until they die. It isn't so much the abject sadness that creates these emotions. It's the years they sacrificed for their kids in re turn for the promise of a stable, secure retirement spent living in their kids h ouses living off their money. That is ultimately why you see such sad mothers an d grandmothers grieving for their future free pass into old age. FlagShareLikeReply Kenji1Mar 20, 2014 @fa477279 I don't know what's worse, your gleeful heartlessness or your abilit y to string together so many gross (not to mention unprovable) cultural assumpti ons. FlagShare7LikeReply Citizen54Mar 20, 2014 @fa477279 Let me guess..... The poster who is appalled by those darn Chinese eld ers is in his/her 20s. FlagShare3LikeReply i37261Mar 21, 2014 @fa477279 You are projecting your own values onto someone else. What makes you think you understand the Chinese culture so well? While it is true that most Chinese parents invest a lot in their kids, and it is also true that Chinese children are expected to care for their elderly, the fin ancial consideration is absolutely not the foundation of the deep emotional conn ection between the two generations. It is the Confucian concept of kindness or res ponsbility for the young (and future posterity in general), and the ideal of fili ality or respect towards the older generation (and gratitude in general towards a ncestors). To the Chinese, these represent fundamental human values. By the way, these are not really Chinese values alone. More likely in this case (almost without a doubt), the mother who lost her son i n the Malaysian flight would, without the slightest hesitation, trade her entire life savings and then some just to have her son back, even if the son would nev er be able to financially support her. Would you not?

FlagShareLikeReply gschandyMar 26, 2014 @fa477279: I have met quite a few truly disgusting human beings - and surely yo u're up there with the 'best' of them! GSC FlagShareLikeReply ohmicron2Mar 20, 2014 Amy Davidson says, "We also have ideas about how government officials and transp ortation executives, and the press, should work. And when the reality is at odds with that why should one ever look away?" On the contrary: Why look to begin with ? I've considered the question and have an answer for myself. I have some intere st in (what I regard as) genuine news reports about the search for the plane. I don't have enough time left in my life to justify paying attention to any of the rest. FlagShare1LikeReply AdamChineseSymbolMar 20, 2014 "His name was Li Le, and he was thirty-six years old." Assumed dead? I don't thi nk anyone should draw any conclusion. Call me naive, but pronouncing this woman' s son dead is NOT nice... FlagShareLikeReply reubenthomasMar 20, 2014 Come on, Amy, Tintin's "Flight 714"? Really? Weh... OK Let's leave it at that...