He said it, not me.

Headlines along the lines of "Plane hijacked to protest Pope's trip to Turky" were given top billing at all the major news outlets. As soon as new information came out suggesting that the hijackers were actually Christians seeking asylum from an oppressive Muslim government - news coverage quickly dried-up. So, let's review: bad things happening in the world that can be ostensibly traced back to the Pope? Headlines news. Christians trying to escape persecution from Muslims because of their beliefs? Practically ignored.

Finally, who started the (false) rumor that the hijacker was protesting Pope Benedict's trip to Turkey? It seems to have originated from Turkish telivision stations, who were interviewing the head of Turkish airlines as well as several high-ranked Turkish officials (including the Istanbul vice governor Vedat Muftuoglu who told CNN-Turk "They [the hijackers] said their action was to protest the pope’s visit.").

So where did these public officials get the idea that the hijacker was protesting the Pope's visit? Was it harmless miscommunication, irresponsible speculation, or malicious fabrication?
Link via american papist.

Who knows what the situation really is. I can see if fading from the news relatively quickly - afterall, this Turk was a Christian, and he didn't hijack the plane to destroy a skyscraper, take hostages to demand release of his brethren in jails or even just blow it up in the air (the sort of things Muslim terrorists are well-known for), all of which would generate more revenue for the media than just some guy wishing to escape his homeland as a Christian convert.

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