I've missed a lot of the coverage, I'm sure but I never heard about the convention center until much later in the week and I'll venture a guess that it was Thursday because I didn't watch TV on Wed..
I agree. One would assume (at least I would) that the local officials would be the primary source of news about current circumstances, both for federal officials (who would get the full story) and for the media (who would get what they could).
Are Homeland Security directives to be rewritten to assign a responsible person to monitor the cable (and local?) news channels because the locals might not know what they're doing? Sounds weird, but it might be practical.
When you dont have FEMA employees in the city reporting back to their leaders, it would seem prudent to use the MSM reports as your eyes and ears on what is occuring where. Even if you dont agree with their interpretation, you at least can see what is happening and then make decisions based on a semblence of facts rather than just assuming everything is okay.
I was watching the tube and posting on FR since before Katrina's strike, and I had heard plenty about the SD, but it wasn't until late into the week that the Convention Center hit my awareness.
I'm not reall surprised at FEMA's gaps in knowledge. Not happy, but not surprised.