Critical Communication Event in the Press - Essay Example

The event was handled by the press in the most traditional way as the news spread out like fire and all the news channels were talking about the event. What happened at the airport between Orto and South West Airlines personnel could be read at various news websites like eTurboNews Inc and ABC News. For example, Sarah Netter’s (2009) article at ABC News talked about the incident very properly and the reader becomes enthusiastic to further explore the issue at other websites like The Kathryn Report (2009) and the article by Knights (2009).

The role of the press in this incident has been to inform the public about the event. It did not challenge the authorities or acted just like a watchdog. It fulfilled its purpose of bringing the news to the public and letting people know about the issue which spread more awareness about the customer of size policy of the Southwest Airlines. This also points to the freedom of press. The incident was covered by many reporters, and many journalists happened to interview Emery Orto to take his views about the event.

Reporters also gave their judgments in their online articles about Orto’s irrational behavior and his communication with the authorities which was not based on sound arguments. They stated in their articles that it was not Orto’s size that kept him from flying; instead, it was his rude behavior that made the authorities angry enough not to let him board the plane. When press enjoys freedom, then everybody has the right to give his views and opinions, just like what happened in this event.

ReferencesKathryn. (2009). Southwest says Emery Orto’s behavior, not his size, got him booted from flight. The Kathryn Report. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://kathrynreport.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/southwest-says-emery-ortos-behavior-not-his-size-got-him-booted-from-flight/Knights, J. (2009). Fatty can’t fly. HotelierMiddleEast.com. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/5638-fatty-cant-fly/Netter, S. (2009). Was southwest passenger too fat to fly? ABC News.

Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/overweight-passenger-denied-boarding-southwest-flight/story?id=8525839