Jon Snow on journalism and 'the ash cloud':

"As a journalist, as a parent, as a human, I felt hopelessly unprepared for this.

[…]

And now we wonder whether the right decisions are being made. Does the ash damage, as the most recent Met Office flights suggests? Or is it exaggerated, as KLM, Lufthansa, and BA test flights suggest?

In short, does anyone know anything of which they speak? Or should we trust “them” when they say the safest option is to ban flights from Stockholm to Athens? And if we do trust “them”, should we trust them when they eventually tell us that flight does not prejudice our collective futures?

Amid this collective ignorance, we journalists must impart facts to a fact hungry populace. I can remember no “natural event” to rival it. Far more is understood of earthquakes, tsunamis and the rest. Think of the money we spent on the “terror threat”. How much have we spent on the “volcanic ash” threat?"

Del.ici.us tags: jonsnow ashtag iceland volcano environment journalism trust