Hurricane Wilman - Is the Media Ready?

AP hounds ask, "Is the Governnment Ready for Wilma?"

The question they should be asking is: Are they ready to cover a storm accurately this time?

For all the concentration on the FEMA boondoggles, and the ingnoring of the greater sin's of the the officials in Louisianna, if not downright incompetance, I wonder if the MSM has fixed it's problems of misreporting the news.

As detailed in this Carolina Journal Online article from September 6th, by Jon Ham:

"RALEIGH — There is a fetid stink in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and it’s not coming just from the fouled waters flooding New Orleans. It also wafts from the putrid reporting of the disaster by the mainstream media.

From the moment Katrina made landfall the media focused on anything that could redound to the detriment of President Bush or inflame race and class tensions. Reporters and commentators ignored the dismal performance of New Orleans’ Democratic mayor and Louisiana’s Democratic governor, blaming every problem that arose on the Bush administration.

Racial demagogues accused Bush and his administration of reacting slowly because most of the victims were black. Environmental activists said Bush’s refusal to sign the Kyoto Treaty caused Katrina’s severity. Democratic operatives said the administration’s decision to cut funding for a long-term study of flood control caused the levees to breach.

All of this is stuff and nonsense. The tragedy is that the media know it too, but they still printed it.

The media know that the first response to natural disasters is always from the local and state governments. They’ve covered enough hurricanes to understand that. They know, or should know, that the response from the federal government, especially the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is always in the second phase of recovery, not the first. They know, or should know, that a state’s National Guard is commanded by the governor, not the president. They know, or should know, that active-duty U.S. military personnel cannot act as law enforcement. But none of this was reported."

Remember the acts of 'cannibalism' and of 'rapes and murder' in the Superdome. The hyping of the MSM for really no other purpose than for political reasons. Not because of what was happening, but because of who was in Office when it was happening.

For instance, aside from the lame excuses of Mayor Ray Nagin, people died because he failed to evacuate them - period. Whether it was inexperience, or he was overwhelmed, the mistakes - the buck - stopped with him. After all as he is fond of saying, it's his city.

Governor Blanco didn't call in appropriate help, and in fact stopped them from coming in.

The MSM didn't report that though. In fact the famous "Bus Picture" might not have seen the light of day except for bloggers. Mr. Broussard's lying on live TV would have went unchecked, except for bloggers exposing it.

So the question is not whether the Federal Government is ready - here in Florida we are. Our local leadership whether democrat or republican acts in a very professional and knowleable way with hurricanes - we'll do alright. Sure, there are problems with people cheating to get FEMA funds, and even some beaucratic boondoggles that continue. But the real quesiton is when is the MSM going to start owning up to it's own boondoggling?

Are THEY ready to get it right this time?





Filed under Katrina Rita disaster relief new orleans emergency response FEMA Hurrican Rita Rita Michael Brown Rita wilma

October 22, 2005

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