Katrina & The Media

[stormie_skies]

(Mods...if there is another thread on this topic, feel free to bump it and delete this one )


I haven't seen a thread on this yet, but it seems like a pretty important thing - something a lot of people would have opinions about. I remember discussing the media coverage of other hurricanes....who had the best landfall footage, the best mets, the most interesting graphics etc. But the media's role in Katrina surpassed that by quite a bit, IMO. The ongoing coverage has been draining and depressing, shocking and sad, amazing and full of emotion.

So who did the best job? Who are you watching?

Do you think the media exaggerated things?

Was it appropriate for them to get emotional, or to get tough on officials?

Did they help more than they hurt???

[HollynLA]

I'm gonna say as much as I feel I can without causing problems.

The media is giving us "part" of the story, but giving the storm story pretty well. There are horrible things going on in NOLA that is NOT being reported. Why? I'm not sure but I'm assuming it had something to do with making sure that other areas of the nation would open it's doors for the evacuees.

I know someone who was in NOLA with the National Guard from Wednesday to Sunday of last week. This person servied in Afghanistan for 9 months prior and his words were "It was better in Afghanistan". He told us about what he saw that we don't see on television. He told us about the horrible crimes that occured, such as the rape and murder of 7 year old and 4 year old children. Also, the national guard is under almost constant gunfire.

Up until yesterday, we had no cable and had some rabbit ears to catch the 1 local channel that was broadcasting and we NEVER heard of any of these things, just some looting in the beginning and a couple gang fights. Most of these reports stopped completely last Wednesday. Many crime reports started coming out of Baton Rouge and surrounding areas but our local station said not to believe it that it was all rumors. It's not rumors at all though. I've spoke to people that I know that work at local stores, I have 2 relatives that work for the fire dept and they've told me what's really going on. Also, a robbery took place at the Walker wal-mart in the parking lot right in front of me. NEVER has my area had any crime problem before now. A friend who works at a convenient store had a customer wave a loaded gun around outside and was later arrested. The media here is NOT reporting these events as they should. They are trying to make things sound all warm and fuzzy in Baton Rouge but it's anything but.

[GalvestonDuck]

So who did the best job? Who are you watching?

I've switched around during the course of the past 12 days. I watched CNN before and during landfall and shortly thereafter because they seemed to provide better coverage than TWC during past storms. Pretty much stuck with Fox since then because I have always preferred FNC for actual news, not weather, coverage. But, like I said, I have switched over the CNN and MSNBC a few times during the FOX repeats at night. Prefer neither over FNC, but I definitely have to switch away when Geraldo comes on.

Do you think the media exaggerated things?

No, not to my recollection. I don't think they could havr hyped or exaggerated much in regards to this storm.

Was it appropriate for them to get emotional, or to get tough on officials?

They're humans also and they've seen stuff, along with the survivors and rescuers, that some of us will never see. But was it appropriate for them to get sensationalistic? No.

Did they help more than they hurt???

I think it was a problem for survivors who continued to see helicopters fly overhead and then fly away. They needed their stories told, but I'm not sure they understood what was going on. We could see...we could hear the commentators. But those on rooftops and balconies could not. I think it hurt in some ways because people lost hope, watching copters leave them stranded.

And I don't think they have really been able to show the full scale of what has happened. I don't think that's their fault though. I don't believe a camera can do that. I don't think it's possible to understand fully, unless we are there. So, in regards to them trying to relay the pain, destruction, and despair to us, I think they've helped...but only within the scope of their abilities and range of their perception. However, what they did show and could show hopefully opened some eyes as to how serious this storm and the aftermath was. I just know what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg. There's no way to see it all or understand it unless we are in their shoes.

[stormie_skies]

I suppose it might help if I answered my own questions...

So who did the best job? Who are you watching?

CNN mostly. Generally speaking, I like their news coverage best, and their hurricane coverage has become particularly good. Anderson Cooper is wonderful (I dunno why I like him so much, but I do). I thought it was interesting that they called in reporters who were experienced at covering refugee situations in other countries, and then had them compare and contrast what they were seeing in New Orleans.

MSNBC was my second choice.

And of course, I kept up with local news, to keep informed about the evacuee situation here in Houston.

Do you think the media exaggerated things?

Not intentionally. I do think there were times when they were too quick to jump on a rumor ... but considering the conditions they were reporting under, I think thats understandable. Other than that, I respect their effort to be everywhere and show us everything. This is something that America needs to see, for many reasons.

Was it appropriate for them to get emotional, or to get tough on officials?

Well, the short answer here is a definitive YES. The long answer goes something like this....

The media and the powers that be (local, federal, government, private sector) are supposed to have an adversarial relationship. A reporters job is to uncover the things that the powers that be want to keep under wraps. Unfortunately, in a lot of ways I think that has fallen by the wayside. Reporters don't ask tough questions in interviews anymore. They let press secretaries and PR people push them around. They have gotten really, really lazy - they take everyone's word as gold and run with the wire story without even thinking twice. I guess that keeps the contacts happy with you and all - but doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of a free press?

This time, though, the discrepancies between the official word and the reality on the ground were too great for reporters to ignore. How could they tell people that "things were under control" when they were standing in front of a mob of thousands of people crying out for water and food, some of them dying on the sidewalk right in front of them?? I don't know if it was emotion or just the realization that the gap between truth and reality was THAT WIDE, but reporters from all news agencies started acting like REPORTERS again.

I don't think I will ever forget the exchange between Cooper and Sen. Landrieu....it must have been sometime Thursday.....she was prattling off a list of politicians she wanted to thank for being of such great help, while we all knew exactly what was going on in the city......Cooper interrupted her and asked her how she could be patting her politician buddies on the back while he was standing just feet away from a human body that was being eaten by rats, and while thousands were dehydrated and starving.....that, and other moments like that (there were plenty), were real turning points IMO.

Reporters were no longer afraid to ask the tough questions, and ask them until they got answers. And they are still doing it. I hope it lasts. It will be one small good thing to come out of a disaster...

Did they help more than they hurt?

I think my previous answer kind of gives me away here.... Yes, they helped way more than they hurt. If they werent on the scene showing us exactly what was going on, we would have had nothing but press conferences to go on....and we wouldn't have had a clue.

[alicia-w]

We watch Anderson Cooper.

[Anonymous]

I KNOW the press exaggerated things. They also down played others. I was there, as a rescuer for the last 10 days.

I watched as they interviewed a man who claimed that no one had come to his town. We were nearby handing out food, water and supplies. We were vaccinating people.

At the same time, there are EMT's that I know who were in NOLA to see some of the things going on there. The real disaster, the one taking the largest toll in lives and economic damage, is the anarchy and societal breakdown there.

Firefighters and EMT's having to get in gunfights while performing rescues, shooting to protect their patients and themselves.

I think the press is trying to sell commercial space and boost ratings. After what I have seen the past week, I think of the news channels as entertainment, no more factual than the Disney channel. That is to say, it is based on a true story, but certainly not fact.