My husband was watching a CNN news segment about the missing plane earlier today on the TV. As I overheard the program while I was on the laptop I couldn't help but notice the absurd amount of times the news anchor kept saying "officials speculate, we believe, analysis probably indicates that...,"
There's too much focus on speculation to keep this relevant in a 24/7 news cycle.
The same could be said about any news, couldn't it? I think that's just journalistic tone.
"Jane Doe's alleged rapist" or "Witness X claims to have seen"
I do agree with you that 24/7 coverage is excessive, though; wait until sufficient evidence has presented itself and then do your reporting (unfortunately the current media climate isn't very supportive of this).
I wonder if they could just make this shit up since they are not going to write down the name and put it in a safe for record anyway.