In my opinion, responsible news outlets should discuss any bin Laden-related news with a degree of skepticism. The BBC, unlike some of its American counterparts, displays exactly this kind of skepticism.
Is it possible that Osama bin Laden is simply dead? I know the guy is supposedly savvy, but how easy would it be for an old man to survive in one of the most dangerous and unstable parts of the world for nearly seven years, while being constantly hunted by the world's most powerful military? Would it be a real stretch to imagine that
A) He died of an illness
B) He died in an explosion or some other kind of attack, but his body was never found
C) Whoever was sheltering him got sick of him and murdered him?
Now, the funny thing is that I'm starting to wonder if the BBC shares my doubts about bin Laden's well-being. First off, they put all of their headlines having to do with him in quotes.
Bin Laden tape voice 'authentic'.
'Bin Laden' in Palestinian call.
New 'Bin Laden tape' threatens EU.
Additionally, the BBC seems to maintain a light touch of skepticism throughout its articles, talking about the tapes "attributed to bin Laden" and noting that he has not been seen alive on video since 2004. They have also wondered aloud before about his death. Likely they are just being good journalists, and do not have concrete reasons to doubt that he is still alive. And some conspiracy theorists, of course, believe that the BBC edited footage of Benazir Bhutto saying that bin Laden was dead - but I leave you to do your own Googling for that.
No matter what, I commend the BBC for their skepticism - it helps remind us that he's not invincible, and it helps cut down on that whole "15 minutes of hate" phenomenon that seems to crop up whenever a new tape comes out.
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