You, in the course of a casual conversation with someone you know is in a position to know, learn that your nation’s navy has been placed on alert, waiting the possible order to deploy to some part of the world where tensions are rising. Nothing you can find in the mainstream media support this story but your informant said: “I don’t think the media have been informed yet”.
[/Hypothetically Speaking]
Do you STFU or call your friends in the media to see if they are interested in the story?
BTW, this has nothing to do with The Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
I don’t think it’s necessary for you to notify the media. FYI, this is the lede to a news story on the New York Times website, “The Defense Department has begun repositioning Navy warships to support possible action against Libya, as it accelerates planning on a range of options if asked by President Obama to intervene in the conflict there, officials said.” So I think it’s safe to assume that the media already knows.
Has anyone ever died because of poor OPSEC when there is no war going on? I mean it’s all nice and good to drill this into soldiers’ heads, but the reality is that the odds of actual harm coming to anyone are ridiculously long, especially for something as banal as ship movements.
Secondly, the media would only report it if they get confirmation from another source. I doubt the OP’s example would be secret for very long. There would probably be a news conference from the Pentagon.
