Critical need for timely MH370 information

"They are always denying what they said yesterday."

In the incident of the missing flight MH370, Malaysia Airlines has been widely criticized by Chinese netizens for publishing information several times that was later proved false or inaccurate. That might be a misunderstanding of what is said at press conferences, according to a column in Beijing News.

Some excerpts:

The Chinese netizens' blame is not groundless. They need information about the missing plane carrying 239 people, including 154 Chinese nationals, but hardly anything was confirmed several days after the incident happened.

However, they might not know the difference between "useful information" and "true information". Concerning the lives of the 239, it is right and necessary for Malaysia Airlines and other interests involved to release any information that can possibly help. Just imagine if they refused to publish anything until it was confirmed — that would arouse criticism again for "concealing information".

Actually, the fact that some information has been denied is itself the result of publishing timely information. Doing so will prevent rumors from spreading and help the rescue teams. Therefore, what we need is not to blame them for publishing inaccurate information but requiring them to publish more information in a timely fashion.