On waiting for the full story
Inter Lake editorial
What really happened at the edge of Flathead Lake last Thursday night?
The only people who do know aren't talking, and official information from a major accident has been painstakingly slow in being released.
We're as anxious as anyone to find out the truth, but that doesn't mean we can break the rules or the law to get information.
There's one overwhelming obstacle, of course, in the way of an informed public - HIPAA, the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act - a six-year-old federal law that fosters fear among health-care providers and creates frustration for news gatherers and the public.
For the media, the law often bars access to details about breaking news stories, such as last week's boating accident. For those working in health care, the law added not only a host of paperwork, but also a potential mine field of fines and jail terms for unlawful disclosures.
The end result is that, in this case, patient privacy is protected, but the public right to know is severely curtailed.
Why should we want to know?
When five people (including two prominent elected officials' are injured, some severely, in what appears to be a horrific crash on a public lake and a public park, it seems there is a substantial public interest in knowing what happened.
Perhaps it's due to the jurisdictional handoffs involved (between Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Highway Patrol, Flathead County Sheriff's Office and Flathead County Attorney's Office), but so far details about the boat crash have been excruciatingly sparse, which has raised many questions for people.
And the biggest question of all - How did that boat get so far up the rocky shore? - is nowhere near being answered.
It's somewhat unusual that a full week after the incident, not a single person involved (including Montana's normally talkative congressman) has said anything directly about the crash. We're sure it was a traumatic incident, and we wish all involved a full and speedy recovery, but the silence adds fuel to the usual Internet buzzing, which includes all sorts of conspiracy tales and cover-up allegations. That buzzing can only be squelched with real information.
In a high-profile case such as this one, people are going to speculate - and public officials should be aware of their role in addressing that speculation.
We hope that all parties involved will disseminate information soon and lay all the rumors to rest.
The full truth eventually will come out. But it might not be soon enough for a society that has grown accustomed to a steady diet of "news now" on the Web or cable TV.
In any case, it's worth remembering an axiom of the journalism business that helps put things in perspective while we wait for accurate information - "If possible, get the story first, but more importantly get it right."