PressEthic

I'm from upstate New York and in my hometown, Buffalo Bills football is big news ... not good news - but big news, regardless.

So amidst a real disaster in Buffalo this weekend, a costly and destructive surprise October storm necessitating FEMA's attention, the city also had to deal with phony threats of impending doom. This week, football cities across the country, and the nation in general, were inundated with the threat of terrorism as an unnamed Internet source issued details of a "coordinated apocalyptic attack" on the seven NFL stadiums hosting games on Sunday.

The threat was never legitimate or credible. Intelligence officials promptly dismissed the issue after thorough investigation. This dismissal, in a time of such caution and fear that airlines won't let you bring bottled water or lip-gloss on a flight, should have made the threat a non-issue.

But if you watched TV in the days following, you would have thought differently. This is where media "blew it," said Bob Orr, CBS News transportation and homeland security correspondent, in his CBS PublicEye blog:

Here’s the headline: there is not now, nor was there yesterday, any credible threat against the National Football League or any of seven stadiums hosting games this Sunday. Period.

So, we should stop the breathless, breaking and live coverage updates of a non-event.

Homeland security alerted local law enforcement officials of the questionable threat as a precaution. The leaking of this information caused pandemonium. Orr blames the media for perpetuating the fear:

The “threat” would likely have evaporated right there had someone not leaked it to CNN. But, when word of the security advisory got out it created quite a sensation in The Situation Room. Watching the coverage, you may have thought al Qaeda was massing at goal posts from The Meadowlands to the Oakland Coliseum ready to storm the fields and strike a blow at another sacred American institution.

Not to be out done, other media outlets soon followed and the story morphed into a warped competition: “Can you top this fear-mongering?” The Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the NFL all issued statements in a desperate attempt to put this terror genie back in the bottle. But, the story with all of its flaws had a life of its own.

Orr discusses the media’s focus on the story:

The real problem is this story was irresistible. It had the kind of sexy elements that get news directors to crank up team coverage -- big crowds, dirty bombs, football, and a “warning” from the government. What it was missing was some substance and restraint from media outlets which let hype trump context.

In an era wrought with legitimate threats of terror, do we really need the media perpetuating irrational fear?