Posted on 03/04/2006 9:57:08 AM PST by HoldFast
When New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin predicted a Hurricane Katrina death toll of 10,000, some thought he was erring on the low side. Twenty-five thousand body bags were stockpiled; the latest computer model predicted 60,000 dead. Yet weeks after the storm, fewer than 1,000 bodies have been found in all of Louisiana. Which prompts the question: What went right?
(Excerpt) Read more at dolinar.com ...
NOLA lucked-out; it could have been much, much worse, despite the total incompetence of Nagin and Blanco.
We've got to get this out - I started doing this a couple of days ago concerning the computer models that prediced up to 60,000 dead. The actual death toll thus far is about 1,340, with a few hundred missing and presumed dead. A death toll of 2,000 would be about 3% of the worst-case scenario, about 6% of the mid-range scenario. In other words, this was an extraordinarily successful disaster response, not the bungled mess of media mythology. A few hysterical, grandstanding reporters in New Orleans set the tone early on, and the "botched rescue effort" became unquestioned dogma. Then the blame game started, and no one even asked if it was true.
"Mainstream publications have since shown these reports to be false; since most of what the media did report was dead wrong, no one should be surprised that there was a parallel failure to report what went right."
We have seen the miracles people can do to help others, in spite of haphazard reporters and their insatiable greed. Many thanks are due to those who unselfishly saved lives.
The majority of misinformation came from Shepard Smith on Fox News. He stood on that bridge and repeated and reiterated lie after lie after lie and it stuck. I haven't watched that little creep since then.
Ditto, though I would add that Anderson Cooper did exactly the same kind of thing from New Orleans.
It made both of them into "stars," which has shielded them, to a certain extent, from having their errors exposed. I don't think that will hold up much longer. Cooper, particularly, is having ratings problems with his show having lower ratings that Aaron Brown, who had the spot but was fired to make way for the new "wunderkind." I don't think there will be too many folks unwilling to take out the long knives for either one of them if the opportunity arises.
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