Posted on 10/18/2005 6:42:51 AM PDT by newbeenew
Remember all those politicians and reporters warning folks to avoid at all costs the deadly mixture of chemicals, gasoline, human and animal waste and decaying bodies floating through New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina?
Guess what? Katrina left town Aug. 30, but it was not until Oct. 13 that The Washington Post got around to reporting that the “toxic soup” never showed up. The Post could possibly be forgiven, though, because there have been so many other mainstream media Katrina myths being debunked in recent weeks.
Remember those horrifying stories of rampaging gangs of murderous rapists in the New Orleans Convention Center and Superdome? Not true. Remember the stacks of bodies of people killed in those locations during five days of hell before help arrived? Not true. Remember the dead seven-year-old girl with the slashed throated and raped soul lying in the freezer? Not true.
Incredibly, there are more myths. Remember New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagins’ uncritically reported prediction that 10,000 people were dead? Not even close. Remember the snipers supposedly firing at rescue helicopters trying to save people from rooftops and hospitals? Didn’t happen. Remember the little babies being raped. No. The well-armed gangs pillaging block after block while dueling with hopelessly out-gunned cops? More myth.
Perhaps the height of sensationalist mainstream media myth-making was FOX News’ Geraldo Rivera intoning that "yesterday the sun set on a scene of terror, chaos, confusion, anarchy, violence, rapes, murders, dead babies, dead people."
--snip--
Here’s something else that’s frightening: In the first few weeks after Katrina, we witnessed an orgy of self-congratulation among mainstream media journalists who allegedly discovered in the storm’s aftermath a new courage to challenge President Bush and the White House for being so slow to respond to the desperate plight of the mostly Black, mostly poor victims of New Orleans.
Now that the truth about the incredibly flawed reportage is public, when do we start hearing apologies from the ink-stained wretches of the daily newspaper newsrooms and the stiff-haired anchors of broadcast news?
Where are the wise professors from the hallowed schools of journalism at places like Columbia University and the University of Missouri intoning about the decline of standards and honesty that allowed so much rumor and outright falsehood to be reported as fact in the midst of the greatest natural disaster in American history?
How long before the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press assembles an esteemed commission of respected editors and producers, public officials, disaster experts and journalism ombudsmen for a searching and candid in-depth report on why it happened and how it can be prevented in the future?
No, I’m not holding my breath waiting for those things to happen either...
Just the title will have me laughing all day.
They will when water starts flowing uphill.
I figure these apologies will occur after we get a real apology from CBS (not the lame explanation we had from Dan Rather) over the forged documents re: President Bush's service.
I would like some proof that this didn't happen. The DailyKos was big on this not being true to fit their agenda.
Especially Oprah. She should do a whole show comparing her hysterics with the real facts.
Never! In fact, they're busy passing out awards to each other for their coverage of Katrina!
But they'll squeal for mercy when they stand on the gallows... about to be hung by the few survivors of a Republic they sold down the river.
I believe that the large death toll is probably accurate, but that the local (corrupt) politicians realized that if they agreed that 10,000 people died, then someone would notice in the next election that those people still voted (when the number of votes recorded didn't go down). Some Dhimicrat had the thought that they better understate the deaths so that they could protect the (dead) voter rolls. Easier to vote 10,000 dead if people think they are really alive.
Worse, when Fed officials were quizzed by the horrible conditions in New Orleans and they replied they didn't believe the conditions were that bad, they were blasted and asked if that had seen all of the reports on TV.
It turns out that the officials were right and the media was WRONG.
But an apology? Not gonna happen.
The MSM will apologize when hell freezes over -- until then they'll give out endless justifications why sloppy reporting was OK. Best yet, they believe all their own excuses.
No toxic soup? This was reported repeatedly on Fox and I assume every other news channel. I'll bet a very large portion of Americans accept it as fact and always will. You can see how Farrakhan gets away with his lame lies in this atmosphere.
This is so right on! Last night who ever it is that is on NBC news admitted that the story about hospital patients being put to death was wrong. Is that a small start in telling the truth? I'm not holding my breath either!
I did notice that with most of the Katrina coverage – particularly from New Orleans – the reporters prefaced their reports with “It is said that …” or “It is reported that …”, without giving a source. They already covered their butts.
Ping!
What's really sad is that the MSM is ignorant that the Founding Fathers believed in a Free Press. But with freedom comes responsibility to speak truth. The MSM's actions will lead one day to State - Controlled Press similar to China and much of the world's (Britain). And it will be accepted because no one will believe it anyway.
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