Actually I heard from a FEMA emergency manager, in the floods in the southeast a few years ago (I can't remember which hurricane), she says that they reported different numbers of dead intentionally so that the count was much lower than actual count.
I believe it. And I'm sure they justified the lie to themselves.
I remember watching a talking head show on a Sunday morning a few years back. The editor of a NY newspaper or magazine was a panel guest. The pompous a$$ stated that they regularly edit news because the American public couldn't handle the truth.