Katrina saved US media?

Hobbes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4214516.stm

Intresting take on it. Personally we will see as time progresses.

whiskeyman

interesting alright.
I guess it's been building up... so many media viewpoints wanting to hit the administration on their foreign policy after 9/11, but they're afraid to do so in case of backlash ("with us or against us").
Katrina now gives them the opportunity to hit without being unpatriotic... in fact, it's turning them almost patriotic as it's the media who are highlighting the hardship of the american people affected by this disaster and are crying for something to be done and questioning why something wasnt done to prevent it.
my 2c

Wertz

Great. Maybe now the US media will take their heads out of the sand in terms of Iraq coverage...ah, who am I kidding?

monument

"Images of the military in a US city have shocked many Americans"

How sickened will they be to see the remaining Americans forcefully removed from their homes or business because of apparently contaminated waters.

mycroft

monument wrote:

"Images of the military in a US city have shocked many Americans"

How sickened will they be to see the remaining Americans forcefully removed from their homes or business because of apparently contaminated waters.

Five people have died from contact with contaminated water, and water toxicity levels are 45,000 times higher than safe levels (a figure so ludricously high you just wouldn't dare trying to make up) I think you need to drop the apparently.

Americans roaming around a city of festering corpses rotting in stews of fetid polluted water, and dying is too unacceptable, some inbuilt "I was born 'ere, and dangnamit, I is going to die here, attitude" can't be accepted.

What I think whats going to happen is the "government isn't part of the solution, it's the problem" brigade, led by Regan, doesn't have a leg to stand on, state control is a necessary evil at times.

athena 2000

monument wrote:

"Images of the military in a US city have shocked many Americans"

How sickened will they be to see the remaining Americans forcefully removed from their homes or business because of apparently contaminated waters.

Interestingly the only place the word 'shocked' is used in the linked BBC article is on one image. There is no substantiation for this picture caption provided. No quote, no personal opinion listed as a source, nothing.

We are not shocked at military images in our own country's news outlets of soldiers in the National Guard and other military branches going on missions to search for, rescue and transport people to safety whether immediately post-disaster and now during the ordered evacuations. Would that the images had come much sooner!

I'd rather see the military helping get people to evacuate than watch more people die needlessly from exposure to contaminated water, sewage, broken natural gas pipes bubbling up gas, oil slicks covering the water, electrical lines down and exposed, etc. One spark and conflagrations galore. Two city blocks have already burned from gas leak explosions on Wednesday.

The real shock was the incompetence of the local, state, and national government in handling the pre-crisis logistics and following devastation, especially to the people in the city of New Orleans and in the greater metropolitan area.

Many thanks to all those people and countries who have contributed to disaster relief funds and provided aid.

monument

I was only thinking in the booths of such people, it's not something I really believe. But for example, there's no flood water in the French quarter anymore - this would be seen as 'no danger'.

(Some) people are getting a bit ticked off that they are being forcefully removed now when the they see the dangers now lowering, and others are just sickened (as in the caption and the news last night – BBC 24 possibly) if of the idea of marshal law.

Hobbes

Based on some of the media I am reading now backpedelling and spin is rampant. Didn't take long to loose their spines.

athena 2000

monument wrote:

I was only thinking in the booths of such people, it's not something I really believe. But for example, there's no flood water in the French quarter anymore - this would be seen as 'no danger'.

(Some) people are getting a bit ticked off that they are being forcefully removed now when the they see the dangers now lowering, and others are just sickened (as in the caption and the news last night – BBC 24 possibly) if of the idea of marshal law.

Monument and all, I just finished watching & listening to Chief Eddie Compass, Chief of the New Orleans Police force in a CBS interview on The Early Show. My info comes from him. New Orleans is still under a mandatory evacuation order that is voluntary - meaning people must leave and they are being asked to leave under their own power if that is possible. Help will be provided if they cannot. Police and military are looking for people, spreading the word and encouraging people to evacuate. This is what he said.

From my own reading of the news, it will be later, maybe even today, that the die-hard citizens will have to be forced out if they won't take the opportunity now. That's the way it is. At this moment, there is a choice. The water and sewage systems are not safe. Even if you have dry land, some electrical power, and little damage to your home, the sanitation and water issues are serious. Fire is also a great risk now.

It will be sad if people are actually forced out, but at this time, they have a choice. Martial law in times of disaster is a tough choice to carry out, but sometimes necessary.

See this New York Times article for more information. You may have to register. It's free.

Hobbes

FEMA are preventing media from reporting.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509080025

They are also looking for people who can put a good spin on it.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0907051fema1.html

whiskeyman

Hobbes wrote:

FEMA are preventing media from reporting.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509080025

To be honest, surely the media can respect the issue of not showing photographs of dead victims.
Ok, perhaps a few floating bodies that cant be recognised, but I think the issue here is the need not to show detailed / graphic shots where possible location / clothing can be recognised.
Thousands of people are still classed as "missing" and, If I had a family member missing, I sure wouldnt want to find out that they're dead on the front page of the local rag.

And that article of "positive relection" makes sense to me. You have to realise that the rescue campaign image is in an awful mess, to nearly the extent the people are turning against it.
This will make the evacuation and cooperation with the survivers all the more difficult.
The rescue attempt is being done by people on the ground who are risking their own lives in many cases to save others... why should they work under a cloud of bad perception made by their superiors?
I can see why its there and dont have a problem with it to be honest.

Hobbes

whiskeyman wrote:

To be honest, surely the media can respect the issue of not showing photographs of dead victims.

There is respecting the dead and showing the truth. After the initial hit EU news was getting a broader picture of what was going on vs US media. I got into a online slagging match over it on another forum (not boards.ie). Basically telling me I was full of crap and asked me to prove what I was seeing.

So I found various footage that I had seen to date the guy turned from slagging me to total outrage that this could be happening on his own soil.

If you looked at some of the blog photos of what happend in the Dome or outside I can't honestly believe you would let them cover it up.

It is starting to turn into a cover up. They have even appointed a new person to spin for them.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090801788.html

Also check out this..

http://eurweb.com/story.cfm?id=22235

Wertz

Hobbes wrote:

Also check out this..

http://eurweb.com/story.cfm?id=22235

That's f*cked up. Severely so. Wouldn't be surprised that any one in authority would want to try and cover that up...