In life, those who tend to err on the side of caution usually have the tendency to assume the worst and hope for the best. While analyzing the positive or negative effects of this approach is a job for others, we can see it creeping into people's work lives. When that work is journalism, analyzing it is our job, and in the past week we have seen its negative effects.There is a name for those who take this approach too far: Alarmists. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term as, "someone who exaggerates a danger and so causes needless worry or panic." While alarmists only affect their social circles, journalists who fall prey to this attitude affect entire countries. Their natural habitat is, of course, times of crisis. Natural disasters, terror attacks and epidemics are the most common of these. However, with the rise of clickbait that plagues web journalism nowadays, alarmism is employed deliberately in order to drive up hits. A couple of examples would be new computer viruses, new epidemics and new legal loopholes.Let us go back to the event that brought this situation to mind. Last week, a Syrian journalist named Rami Jarrah was taken into custody in the southern town of Gaziantep for unspecified reasons. As it was apparently a mix-up on the part of the authorities, he was released shortly thereafter. Since the authorities did not release a statement on the matter, we can only speculate regarding the reasons: one of which is the high tension that fell over the country in the wake of the terror attack in Ankara. There are several possible explanations for the brief detainment of the journalist: a simple mix-up during a routine check, a case of missing papers, or even a deliberate attempt to target a journalist. According to an unnamed source from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): "Jarrah was detained by immigration officials after trying to apply for residency." Any of these reasons are possible, or even a reason we cannot imagine. Right now, the main fault lies with the authorities as they did not release a statement regarding this high-profile matter and, instead, let everyone run wild with their assumptions, including us. As it stands, the hard news is only that Jarrah was taken into custody last week and released without any statement a short time later.Following his arrest, the CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova released a statement that said: "We call on Turkish authorities to immediately release Rami Jarrah and allow him to work in Turkey without fear of obstruction. Jarrah is known for his independent reporting on the war in Syria, which he has been covering for years at great risk. Syrian journalists like Jarrah, who have turned to Turkey for safe refuge, should be protected rather than subjected to detention and harassment."I could not agree more. But, let us look at what the news reports said.The Sözcü daily announced reported the news with the headline: "Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah missing in custody," even though he was not missing, while the CPJ said: "Jarrah was briefly held in a detention facility for foreign citizens, but was moved to an immigration facility in the southern city of Adana in the early hours of Friday morning, his lawyer, Orçun Çetinkaya, told the CPJ."He was in the chain of custody but Sözcü apparently felt that he was missing in a black prison, rotting away at an undisclosed location. While this scenario makes for a good Hollywood movie, it is not remotely close to what happened here. Yet, they decided to go with that angle, and as far as I can see, have not updated the article despite Jarrah's release.Of course, there were others who spun this as a government crackdown on a journalist. Considering that the Syrian journalist had met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan prior to his arrest and posted a selfie on social media, it did not seem likely. . In a Facebook post, Jarrah mentioned the event: "The location I was transferred to late Wednesday evening contained prisoners that were all held under the same suspicion of being terrorist elements, all have not been charged and some have been here for up to nine months after having being declared innocent in a court of law. It disturbs me that I was placed in this situation given my background and obvious distance from such an accusation.""I understand the pressure the Turkish government is under and the responsibility it has in ensuring security and preventing terrorism from infiltrating or harming Turkey; however, miscalculation or poor research before action meansthat many could fall victim to such a system."So, the arrest does not seem like a deliberate attempt to attack the freedom of speech; even according to Jarrah himself. While I agree wholeheartedly that it is necessary to consider the conditions journalists are working in near the Syrian border and beyond, authorities should be mindful of their actions. With that said, the authorities' failure to make a statement is also unacceptable.Let us look at the international media now. In a BBC article from Feb. 20 titled: "Turkey releases Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah," the BBC included a small, "Freedom of the press in Turkey" index summarizing the situation even though the article made it clear that this was not a press freedom issue at all.Another thing to note is that while Jarrah's arrest was covered by many local and international news outlets, his release did not receive the same media attention. Another tendency of alarmism is, of course, milking the plague as long as possible and, following that mandate, the cure seems irrelevant.