Hostage coverage unfair to families

It's every parent's worst nightmare. Your child, bestowed the honor of going to Pakistan to cover America's latest war, is kidnapped in the process. Shady reports keep coming in, you don't know if he is dead or alive. You don't know where he is, who he is with or if the information you are getting is the truth.\nSadly, this is the reality for the family and friends of missing Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. According to the New York Times, Pearl has been missing since Jan. 23, when he was trying to conduct interviews in Karachi, Pakistan. Pearl's wife was with him in Pakistan and has pleaded for his release.\nNew reports come out every day about his whereabouts and the horrifying picture of Pearl flash on any given newscast several times a day. They show his hands bound with a chain and a gun pressed to his head that is being held down by his captor. According to Newsweek, these photos were mailed out to news organizations all over America.\nSo for two weeks, his relatives and friends have been left wondering. Where is he? Is he still alive? Is this a hoax? What's happening to him? Why can't we get any solid information on him?\nUnfortunately, the news networks are not doing anything to quiet the fears of his family or the general public. Three major news stations reported incorrectly that Pearl's body was found by the side of the road. ABC news, MSNBC and Fox News presented the information and retracted it all within a few hours. ABC news told the Times that it received confirmation of the report from a reliable unofficial source and the general inspector of Karachi's police department.\nMSNBC defended its broadcast by saying that there were "'contradictory reports' about the identification of the body." Fox News had the editor of The News, a national newspaper in Pakistan, on the phone to confirm the report. He did, but then later retracted.\nBut no amount of retraction can take away the feeling of urgency and despair the family and friends of Pearl undoubtedly felt when they heard the news. All too often, because of the fast-paced news cycle and competition between news networks, the basic principles of journalism get cast aside.\nIn the newspaper industry,when you get a report from an e-mail, a medium where identities can be easily falsified, it is best to get further confirmation. The Times reports that both of the news stations received their information from e-mails. \nAll too often, newscasts have become propellant of rumor and they simply cannot afford to be, especially when they are dealing with human life. The news of a false death can have terrible psychological effects on the friends and family of any individual. It is the responsibility of every news organization to present truthful information that is checked for accuracy. The news today is painful enough without lies.