If anyone caught the Mayor Ray Nagin (New Orleans) discussion on Meet the press last Sunday, you may have heard him complaining about how the response was slow because of the class and race of the people who were trapped in the Katrina Hurricane. What was notable was that in the same sentence he complained about the images of poor people being presented, but yet never said the press held some accountability for the fact that everyone was taken off guard by Katrina’s storm-surge and the breaching of the levees. I agree with Nagin – it was the images that were being presented, 2 … 3 days after the storm of the same guy stealing the beer.
IF THE PRESS WASN’T SHOWING THE SAME TIRED COVERAGE DURING THE FIRST 3 DAYS OF THE STORM, AND MAYBE COVERED …
say, the rising waterline instead, things would have been different. THIS is where Mayor Nagin should be directing his anger, not at the first responders, not at the government! Was he afraid that the press would cut him off? Isn’t “Meet the Press” supposed to be a candid coverage of the issues effecting the press and how they cover stories?
I really think the media was completely taken off guard on Katrina. They were doing other things and only a few folks covered it. They lacked the coverage during the first few days, and didn’t raise clamor until it was too late. The media is LARGELY responsible for the poor response, in my opinion.
Maybe it was the Media that was racist – they saw the beer picture from the single AP reporter that was there and figured it’s not worth covering … couple of black folks stealing beer, right? Unfortunately, public responders and even the President get their news from AP and the mainstream press, so why is anyone surprised that the response was slow? Does Nagin think the government runs the press – that the government put those images there the first 3 days of the storm?
Can someone tell me, how come noone criticize the press? Isn’t a free press something we expect in this country?
