PressEthic

It was impossible to escape news of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that shook Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on Saturday. Every major news channel, paper and media source was all over the story. It was one of the biggest natural disasters to hit the areas in decades, and the death toll (which is still mounting) was last recorded at 30,000 in Pakistan alone.

A lot of the hard hit rural areas (mostly in Indian and Pakistani held Kashmir), were cut off as roads were blocked by landslides. People stood around helplessly as dead bodies of their loved ones were trapped inside the rubble of their homes, and rescue efforts fell significantly short of requirement. Gen. Musharraf, President of Pakistan surrendered to the situation, and requested international assistance on Sunday, in the face of this daunting challenge.

Apart from calling home every couple of hours to check up on the family, I was glued to the various media sources updating information on this disaster in my home country. During my random search for information, I also checked up on the Fox News website. The earthquake was featured on the main page like all other news sources, but it was one headline in the related stories box that caught my attention.

‘No Evidence Bin Laden hurt'---as is obvious from the title, the story focused on that fact that Osama Bin Laden had not been found dead or alive in the aftermath of the earthquake. It was a classic case of stating the obvious---if he had been found it would have made headlines. This little piece of information (shall we call it ) was all the more unnecessary, since it quoted an anonymous source who did not reveal his/her identity due to the sensitive nature of the news.

WASHINGTON — No evidence suggests that the deadly earthquake that rocked Pakistan on Saturday injured or killed the world's top terror leader, Usama bin Laden. The quake shook the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where bin Laden is believed to be hiding. However, authorities at this point have no information indicating he's been injured or killed, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitivity.

Who is this US official and why is he/she anonymous, since it seems to be a fairly innocuous piece of news. Had they found him, then it would have warranted anonymous sources refusing to go public with sensitive information. As it stands it seems like the most straightforward piece of news there can be. Let me sum it up.

Osama Bin Laden was not found dead or alive in the aftermath of the earthquake that shook Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It seems all this news story did was to reiterate already established facts.

U.S. hopes for bin Laden's death or capture were high in December 2001, when U.S. and Afghan troops surrounded a cave complex sheltering Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan's Tora Bora (search) region. But bin Laden escaped and is believed to be living a relatively isolated existence to evade capture.

In the face of a breaking story when there is crucial information to be updated, death tolls to put up and rescue efforts to be analyzed, such stories seem to serve little or no purpose. Then again maybe that concept varies audience to audience.