Media Malfeasance and Katrina

There has been a lot of media hype this week about the fifth anniversary of the Katrina disaster, most of it self-congratulatory. In some cases it was treated as an opportunity to get in a few more whacks at President Bush. W. Joseph Campbell, author of "Getting it Wrong", notes that he [a conservative] and arch-liberal Harry Shearer, director of "The Big Uneasy" agree that the media coverage of the crisis and recovery efforts since have been abysmal. For the most part it was showboating, exaggerated, inaccurate, and to some extent politically, driven. He describes the on-site coverage:

“They reported snipers firing at medical personnel. They reported that shots were fired at helicopters, halting evacuations from the Convention Center [in New Orleans].

“They told of bodies being stacked there like cordwood. They reported roving gangs were preying on tourists and terrorizing the occupants of the Superdome, raping and killing. They said children were victims of sexual assault, that one seven-year-old was raped and her throat was slit. They reported that sharks were plying the flooded streets of New Orleans.”

And what is perhaps most offensive, is that the press refuses to admit their errors and has even gone so far as to congratulate themselves on the excellence of their reporting.

Faugh!

Read the article here.