It’s a fine line for aviation publications to “report the news” vs. reality. For those of us who have been around the industry for a while, these unproven claims don’t do the industry any favors. It’s gotten so common that most people have become skeptical of MOST breathless “breakthrough” developments that are “just around the corner.” Even worse, when “orders” for a new airplane that has yet to fly (or even reach the intended configuration!) by an “airline” that is still in the “concept” stage–it borders on fraud.
Unsubstantiated claims like this borders on Propaganda. People have to RELY on the news media–and media that reports unsubstantiated claims cannot be cited as a “reliable source.” As my old Dad said many years ago–“Reliability and trust are your greatest assets.” If media loses trust, they are no better than the wildly false claims of “Baghdad Bob” during the Gulf War.
Increasingly, media has ignored the need to “only report verified facts” in search of “being first.” BE CAREFUL–news media–reliability is your livelihood and stock in trade–your BIGGEST ASSET. Better to miss a “scoop” than to report unsubstantiated information.