There has been no shortage of outrage in the media coverage of the new security procedures at the nation’s airports.
We’ve all seen the headlines about angry travelers and videos of people experiencing the new “enhanced” pat-downs or holding their hands over their head while they stand in a full-body scanner. We’ve heard the stories of the man who threatened to have a Transportation Security Administration agent arrested if he touched his “junk” and the unfortunate bladder cancer survivor who was covered in his own urine after TSA agents broke the seal on his urostomy bag during a pat-down.
But try sorting through all the clutter to find journalism that provides clarity and context, stories that hold officials in Washington accountable for their actions, coverage that does more than quote angry travelers or simply link to such coverage by other outlets. It’s not easy.
“The media has focused on the salacious, like the poor gentleman who … had bladder issues,” said Benét Wilson, who covers airport security for Aviation Week, a trade publication. “That drives up website numbers. Unfortunately, people don’t want to hear the other side about why these security measures are needed.”
These scanners were introduced at 10 U.S. airports in 2008, but stimulus funding saw them spread this year to 65 airports.
The story first bubbled up online as questions arose about the safety of the scanners and the lack of privacy inherent in a machine that looks through a traveler’s clothes to capture images. Travelers who opt out of the scan must submit to a full body pat-down by TSA agents that many have described as groping and intrusive.
The story initially spread through blogs, viral videos and social media. Traditional press outlets, by most accounts, were slow to take notice.
“There’s a very high noise level on this right now, but that wasn’t so a few weeks ago,” said Kendall Wright, director of support operations for FlyersRights.org, a nonprofit group that advocates on behalf of airline passengers. “The mainstream media seemed to be shrugging their shoulders at it.”
Wright said he put together a newsletter two weeks ago that sought to provide answers to many of the questions being asked by the group’s members. Most of his links, he said, were to blogs and other online sources. He said he was unable to find a lot of answers in more traditional media outlets.
Many frequent flyers turned to the online community at FlyerTalk.com. There, they share their own travel experiences while also hearing from pilots, flight attendants and TSA agents who post in a wide range of forums.
“I’d say that FlyerTalk.com has been at the forefront here,” Gary Leff, the president and senior moderator of the site, told me in an e-mail. “First because it’s been ahead of the curve as a result of live, real-time reports from travelers long before the mainstream media has covered the issue and second because of the sheer volume of activity and disparate voices.”
Those voices, Leff said, include TSA agents who have posted explanations of what’s happening from their vantage point. He said that has helped dispel some myths and get information out quickly. He said there has been one thread where members let each other know about the security setups at individual airports and which checkpoints are using the full-body scanners.
Wilson, of Aviation Week, pointed me to a blog, Flying with Fish, that she said has “done some really good work on both sides of this issue.” The blog is maintained by Steven Frischling, aka “Fish,” a professional photographer and social media consultant from Connecticut.
Frischling started the blog nine years ago to help a handful of his fellow photographers travel more efficiently as they made their way around the globe for photo assignments. Frischling says he has flown more than 1 million miles since 2005.
Frischling’s blog has evolved considerably since its meager start, largely because Frischling covers the TSA as if it were his job. He has developed numerous sources within the agency, frequently gets TSA documents sent to him, and bases his blog posts on reporting the story from all sides.
While other outlets have quoted travelers questioning the constitutionality of the full-body scanners, Frischling dug up a 1973 ruling by a federal court that he said effectively suspends aspects of the Fourth Amendment for airport security screening.
The same post notes that in 2001 President George W. Bush signed the Aviation Transportation and Security Act, which was passed with little opposition in Congress, that set the stage for the security procedures being put in place now.
In another post, Frischling interviewed 17 TSA screeners, who told him they are uncomfortable about performing the new pat-downs. “It is not comfortable to come to work knowing full well that my hands will be feeling another man’s private parts, their butt, their inner thigh,” Frischling quoted one unnamed agent saying.
Another post featured Frischling’s interview with an unnamed anti-terrorism expert at the Department of Homeland Security who said the pat-downs being used now probably would not have detected the so-called “underwear bomb” that failed to detonate on a 2009 flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Frischling says he quotes people anonymously because that is the only way TSA employees will work with him. But he said he is mindful of journalism ethics from his years working as a news-service photographer.
“I keep my opinion out of it, and cover all sides of the story when I can,” he told me. “If you want to be taken seriously, if you want sources to talk to you, I can’t be one of the screaming masses.”
While other reporters will move on to other stories once the furor dies down over the new security measures, Frischling will continue to report on what’s going on at the TSA. Frischling said he spends more time working on his blog than he does his paying job, and that there continue to be stories that need to be told.
“I’m going to keep doing what I do for one very simple reason — it’s very important information and nobody is covering it,” he said.
The mainstream media did finally jump on the airport security story, with many offering long front-page takeouts and full-length broadcast reports that sought to provide context and address the various questions people had.
Eric Torbenson, a business writer for the Dallas Morning News who covers aviation safety as well as issues such as legal affairs and aerospace defense, acknowledged that they were “kicking ourselves slightly” for not getting to the story sooner. But he said his newspaper and several mainstream news outlets, such as the Chicago Tribune, provided solid reporting once they started pursuing the story.
“There was a lot of misinformation out there at times,” Torbenson told me. “The good old mainstream media may still be the great reconciler of information.”
Wright (of FlyerRights.org) and Leff (of flyertalk.com) said several mainstream media outlets provided solid coverage once they got engaged. But they both said they fell short in holding the TSA accountable for its actions.
“The L.A. Times had a shockingly bad editorial … which just took TSA talking points at face value, rather than performing the traditional role of questioning power,” Leff said in his e-mail.
Wright said he had seen several broadcast interviews with John Pistole, head of the TSA, that were filled with what he called “softball” questions. “They ask Pistole questions, but if he doesn’t answer them they just move on,” Wright said.
Meanwhile, a CBS News poll found that 81 percent of those surveyed favor the use of full-body scanning machines for airport security. It is a view that has not been reflected in much of the coverage.
“The traditional media has been following this, but it has been the flashy headlines and more sensational websites that are getting the hits,” Wilson said. “People don’t want to hear ‘We’re doing this for your safety.’ They want to hear the salacious.”
