media personifies the machine

A pet peeve of mine is the way the media reports aircraft incidents
and accidents. Rather than use the proper terminology to explain
the scenario "...pilots were to be attempting to return the crippled
airplane to the airport" they'll report "the crippled plane was trying to
turn back...". It's just a bit bizarre and makes for a wierd sounding
story IMHO. Writers take note. Any other opinions on this?

A pet peeve of mine is the way the media reports aircraft incidents
and accidents. Rather than use the proper terminology to explain
the scenario "...pilots were to be attempting to return the crippled
airplane to the airport" they'll report "the crippled plane was trying to
turn back...". It's just a bit bizarre and makes for a wierd sounding
story IMHO. Writers take note. Any other opinions on this?


I agree to a point -- the example you cite is awkward. But, on the other hand,

I think it's understood that pilots were piloting the plane. I don't think
anybody really thinks that airplanes are sentient beings, flying around on
their own, laboring heroically like the Little Engine That Could. In
journalism, where you constantly seek to economize on words, isn't it more
efficient to say "the plane... etc." rather than say "the pilot attempted to
turn the plane around, etc....."

I mean, don't we get the point without added verbiage?

Jimoran

In article ,
"Ed" wrote:

A pet peeve of mine is the way the media reports aircraft incidents
and accidents. Rather than use the proper terminology to explain
the scenario "...pilots were to be attempting to return the crippled
airplane to the airport" they'll report "the crippled plane was trying to
turn back...". It's just a bit bizarre and makes for a wierd sounding
story IMHO. Writers take note. Any other opinions on this?

Its no different than the mistatements I hear come out of the news media
all the time regarding issues involving computer technology. This is
especially true of stories involving network security vulnerabilities.
Some of those stories are so dumbed down they litterally make no sense
when you really listen (or read) them.