Media making news instead of reporting it

Mike Sullivan forwards this piece with the comment;  "This is the kind of media grandstanding that destroys their credibility and points toward their anti Administration agenda by trying to make newly formed Transportation Security Agency (TSA) look inept.  I hope NBC finds out how well the training has progressed by the huge fine they will be facing". "NBC staffers arrested in airport ploy. Caught with maps, lighter and box cutter

Two NBC News staffers were arrested Wednesday at St. Louis Downtown Airport when they attempted to demonstrate whether a terrorist could rent a helicopter. The New York producer and cameraman portrayed themselves as tourists who wanted to rent a charter helicopter to visit sites such as the Arch, airport director Bob McDaniel said. Arleane Thomas, vice president of Fostaire Helicopters at the airport, called the police after the two NBC staffers tried to rent a helicopter using driver's licenses from two different states, and >then tried to pay cash for the sessions, which cost between $750-$875 per hour. Sauget Police officers and FBI agents responded moments after Thomas made the call and the two NBC employees were taken into custody. Officers searched their belongings and discovered a box cutter, a butane lighter, maps and a white powder which turned out to be baby powder. They're trained so that when you see something you know who to call and (Thomas) was right on target," said Bill Switzer federal security director for the Department of Homeland Security at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
 
Switzer said his department has done extensive training for airport employees in the St. Louis region.  "Everything worked well. (Thomas) called the right people and they were able to respond in a timely manner. It was very, very
effective," Switzer said. Allison Gullust, a spokesman for NBC, said NBC wanted to see how employees at helicopter charter companies would respond to suspicious behavior. The two NBC staffers were part of two teams performing tests on a helicopter charter companies in the St. Louis region and in New York. "Helicopter security has been a focus of public attention this week, following the latest set of government warnings about potential terrorist targets," Gullust said. "In Illinois the employees did what they were trained to do." St. Louis Downtown Airport is the region's second busiest general aviation terminal next Lambert Airport, with 175,000 takeoffs and landings each year. McDaniel said he was elated that the airport personnel acted in such an effective and timely manner, but felt that NBC's actions were extreme. "It's an absolute outrage that we have people in the media trying to create news instead of report it," McDaniel said".
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/9393244.htm?1c

RH: I agree with Mike, but no reputable print journalist would get involved in such antics.

Your comments are invited. Read the home page of the World Association of International Studies (WAIS) by simply double-clicking on:   http://wais.stanford.edu/
E-mail to hilton@stanford.edu. Mail to Ronald Hilton, Hoover Institution, Stanford, CA 94305-6010. Please inform us of any change of e-mail address.