Media Coverage of Katrina

[azskyman]

The media plays a HUGE role in helping residents and vacationers in the path of Katrina.

Having worked in weather media and with weather media folks for many years, I realize the burden they have to convey accurate, timely, and life-saving information.

Landfall is still hours away as of this initial post, but there is a fine line being walked this Sunday morning between responsible reporting of the urgency for action and using flat-out fear to motivate the public into action.

Don't get me wrong, fear can be a very BIG motivation...and WILL save lives! But suggesting that a Category 5 Katrina WILL put ALL of New Orleans under water makes some assumptions about the exact path and nature of her behavior by Monday morning that is still to be determined.

A fine line for the press to walk...but it seems better to err on the side of safety than on the side of complacency.

This is a place to post your own assessment of how the media is doing in PREPARING or SCARING the public into action. After landfall, we can use this thread to discuss how valuable and accurate the pre-landfall coverage was?