OKLAHOMA CITY WAS A TEST THE MEDIA FAILED IN SOME WAYS

Panelists say that since this type of incident can happen anywhere now, sensitivity, careful reporting and well-chosen sources are crucial

They arrived somber. They left mentally chilled.

Editors who attended "Oklahoma City: One Year Later," the last session of the April convention, were told to prepare for more terrorism, possibly even on a larger scale.

"The worst is yet to come," said panelist Yonah Alexander, terrorism expert at George Washington University.

He raised the specter of biological, chemical or nuclear terrorism affecting an entire world region. He warned editors to consider their roles in helping to bring public panic to what he called a "manageable level."

The panel met as newsstands and television were filled with flashbacks to the heartland bombing that killed 168 people. That morning, exactly a year after the bomb went off on, sessions fell silent to remember the dead.

Moderator Judy Woodruff, a CNN anchor, said the day's activities showed that "this incident rather than receding quickly into our memories still feels fresh, raw and painful for many Americans."

Alexander said Oklahoma has shattered the myth that the U.S. Midwest is not as violent as the Middle East. Terrorism is a war front-line in which all segments of society, including the media, can make an important contribution.

The media's role is to communicate what is happening. That was not done when false reports emerged of Middle Eastern people involved in the bombing.

"I think these are some of the consequences that we have to think about. We have to be a lot more cautious about making statements," Alexander said.

Ed Kelley, managing editor of the Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, cautioned editors to be aware that right-wing militia groups now exist in all 50 states.

"They are there, certainly, and they are going to be there, and a lot of these people look like you and me," he said. Media interviews after the bombing led people to believe militia groups were something new, said Victoria Toensing, former deputy assistant attorney general in charge of terrorism. The groups didn't just suddenly pop up; they had been there already, usually operating quietly.

There is anger against the power of federal and state governments. "I don't think the media have told that story and it's there, in a lot of little groups around the country," she said.

How can the media tell the story better? "I think with interviews with not just the militia people," Toensing said. "Get out and talk to some of the small business people across the country and get a feeling of how they react to the power of the government."

The panel discussed how to resolve conflicts between the media and law enforcement agencies on major stories.

Ron Noble said agencies must control information and work out a relationship with the media so the prosecution of a case is not hampered. He is an ex-assistant treasury secretary for law enforcement.

Often the information of interest to the media is the information most likely to cause prosecution problems, he said.

Kelley said the FBI in effect enacted martial law against the media at Oklahoma City. No one in the media wished to jeopardize any case, but there had to be some system of telling what was happening.

Alexander said the media must educate people about the threats in our world. It has to go beyond just looking at threats from right-wing groups but also political, religious and ideological groups around the world.

Poling is vice president/editorial of the Canadian Press.