Media Go Home!

[editor]

There's little food and drinkable water in New Orleans, and virtually no electricity.

So thank God that NBC anchor Brian Williams and his entourage are doing the Nightly News live from near the Superdome, sucking up what little resources are left for the survivors. Selfish dumbasses. It's a crisis situation. Showing up with 30 or 40 other people doesn't help regular people, only his career.

[tomv]

There's little food and drinkable water in New Orleans, and virtually no electricity.

So thank God that NBC anchor Brian Williams and his entourage are doing the Nightly News live from near the Superdome, sucking up what little resources are left for the survivors.  Selfish dumbasses.  It's a crisis situation.  Showing up with 30 or 40 other people doesn't help regular people, only his career.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, there is an air of sensationalism, but the coverage will help make people all over the world realize how bad the situation is, which should translate into much needed help for those poor people.

[RedScare]

There are a few numbskulls, but mostly, I have been impressed with the coverage. In fact, I have been more surprised at how hard it is getting news out of one of the largest US cities.

The sensationalists have been the same ones who get breathless over missing white girls, missing children and all the other stories that get suburban moms into a lather. Amazingly, I watched Geraldo being the picture of comportment the other night.

[Guest danax]

There's little food and drinkable water in New Orleans, and virtually no electricity.

So thank God that NBC anchor Brian Williams and his entourage are doing the Nightly News live from near the Superdome, sucking up what little resources are left for the survivors.  Selfish dumbasses.  It's a crisis situation.  Showing up with 30 or 40 other people doesn't help regular people, only his career.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's a crisis for a few and showtime to hundreds of millions and "the show must go on". People are just lapping this stuff up as usual. A woman at work was in a near frenzy talking about it. She stayed up late last night and practically ran out of the office to watch more at home.

Now if one of the newcasters were to fill sandbags or something else similar all day with a brief report once in awhile, that would be impressive.

[RedScare]

Not to defend the perfect hair people, but this coverage will move millions to donate to relief efforts for these pour souls. As overdone as it may be, it does have a silver lining.

On a side note - I was listening to NPR today, and they interviewed a woman leaving a store with some fruit and a few other foodstuffs (known as a looter). Litening to that woman apologize for having to do this to feed her family, and how she always thought looters were such criminals, almost brought a tear to my eye.

I never thought I'd feel sorry for a looter.

[YakuzaIce]

I never thought I'd feel sorry for a looter.

Would you feel the same though if she was stealing another families possesions out of their home? In times like this stealing food from an abandoned store to feed yourself and your family is reasonable. It is those who take advantage of a time of crisis for their own personal gain who should be looked down upon.

[RedScare]

I only felt sorry for this one, not the ones stealing cigarettes and booze. It was a tragic example of the desparation in the city.

[nmainguy]

Would you feel the same though if she was stealing another families possesions out of their home?  In times like this stealing food from an abandoned store to feed yourself and your family is reasonable.  It is those who take advantage of a time of crisis for their own personal gain who should be looked down upon.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

She wasn't stealing from another family. She was stealing from a store to feed her family. The young black guy I saw on CNN with the shopping cart full of designer tennis shoes-now there's a fraction of a man to look down upon. Sure, looters suck, but given a choice between my kids going without and having to grab some fruit to tide them over until other help arrived-well, it's such a no-brainer. As far as the media goes, what they consume is infinitesimal compared to the PR that brings in tons of relief.

[YakuzaIce]

I know that...

I was saying because of redscare's comment "I never thought I'd feel sorry for a looter."

I was just saying how this was someone trying to feed their family not trying to make a profit off of others misfortunes. How it is different from looters you usually think of.

[jm1fd]

There's little food and drinkable water in New Orleans, and virtually no electricity.

So thank God that NBC anchor Brian Williams and his entourage are doing the Nightly News live from near the Superdome, sucking up what little resources are left for the survivors.  Selfish dumbasses.  It's a crisis situation.  Showing up with 30 or 40 other people doesn't help regular people, only his career.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sucking up resources? What would those be exactly? I'm sure they have their own power and are bringing in food and fuel and other facilities.

[citykid09]

I was wondering would any of you guys be looting if this happened in Houston?

[arche_757]

If a storm like this hit Houston - my ass would be gone - to New Mexico! I would never put my life in danger for a few (and I mean few) possesions.

What is sad is how the media sells "it" to the average joe. Almost as sad as how they move from one story (Aruba, Peace Mom ect...) to another - what ever is the most sensational at the time. Next week/month it will be something else.

[nmainguy]

I was wondering would any of you guys be looting if this happened in Houston?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would depend on who was depending on me at the time. Otherwise, me and my passport would be on our way to Paris.

[YakuzaIce]

^ Of course I wouldn't loot.

Also about the media sensationalism, there was one thing that pissed me off during the Aruba thing. I rarely watch local TV news, but I will sometimes watch for a while till they start doing stupid stories again. Well I turned it on a while back it was at the 10:00 PM show. But the thing that irked me was they spent a good 10 minutes on the Aruba girl (may have been shown again not sure), and then after that no more than 3 seconds were spent saying two teenage boys had been shot and killed in east houston.

I mean how can you spend that much time on one person who has been getting national media coverage for weeks and then practically ignore something more serious in your hometown.

[editor]

Sucking up resources?  What would those be exactly?  I'm sure they have their own power and are bringing in food and fuel and other facilities.

Some supplies, yes. But enough for a whole week? Possibly.

But then there's a bad moral dillemma -- Do you show up in a disaster zone in a truck full of food and water and then not give it to people who really really need it?

I know one TV station that decided NOT to send its crews there for that very reason. They didn't want to make things worse, and couldn't arrive in town with all those supplies and not give them away with a clean conscience. Instead of sending people into the flood zone, they're raising money for the Red Cross.

[YakuzaIce]

I was wondering would any of you guys be looting if this happened in Houston?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BTW at least one looter has been shot by police. Just FYI.

[dbigtex56]

I recently saw a series on The National Geographic Channel about 9-11. Seems that even our military couldn't keep track of which planes had gone where, and the type and extent of the damage done - until a tech watching TV in the break room told them what he'd seen on CNN.

Same thing during the first Gulf War. The military depended on CNN to keep them posted in real time about what was really going on.

The media are performing a valuable service. Sure, some of the on-air personalities are jerks, but that doesn't justify restricting information about the current conditions in NO. The more eyes on the ground, the more informed the decisions made by officials will be.

Would you tell the National Guard that they were required to share their provisions, or stay away too? The media are there to do a much needed job.

[nmainguy]

I recently saw a series on The National Geographic Channel about 9-11. Seems that even our military couldn't keep track of which planes had gone where, and the type and extent of the damage done - until a tech watching TV in the break room told them what he'd seen on CNN.

Same thing during the first Gulf War. The military depended on CNN to keep them posted in real time about what was really going on.

The media are performing a valuable service. Sure, some of the on-air personalities are jerks, but that doesn't justify restricting information about the current conditions in NO. The more eyes on the ground, the more informed the decisions made by officials will be.

Would you tell the National Guard that they were required to share their provisions, or stay away too? The media are there to do a much needed job.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's a media link re: La National Guard http://www.swingstateproject.com/2005/08/katrina_and_the.php

I wonder if the Cheney/Bush war in Iraq has caused a NG shortage here at home when we need them the most.

[editor]

BTW at least one looter has been shot by police.  Just FYI.

A few minutes ago CNN reported that a cop was shot in the head by a looter, but is expected to be OK.

I had a boss once who used to say, "Civilization is only three meals deep."

I don't think that's what we're seeing here. I think right now it's just uncivilized opportunistic thugs taking advantage of a bad situation. But if things don't improve soon, I'd expect the normal people to partake, as they get hungrier, more tired, and more frustrated.

[editor]

I recently saw a series on The National Geographic Channel about 9-11. Seems that even our military couldn't keep track of which planes had gone where, and the type and extent of the damage done - until a tech watching TV in the break room told them what he'd seen on CNN.

Same thing during the first Gulf War. The military depended on CNN to keep them posted in real time about what was really going on.

The media are performing a valuable service. Sure, some of the on-air personalities are jerks, but that doesn't justify restricting information about the current conditions in NO. The more eyes on the ground, the more informed the decisions made by officials will be.

Would you tell the National Guard that they were required to share their provisions, or stay away too? The media are there to do a much needed job.

I'm not against some journalists being there. Most importantly the local ones who know the area and know what information is important to the local people. I don't mind a certain number of national representatives, either. But I'm not sure it's useful to the people in this crisis to have hoardes of redundant reporters breathng down the necks of rescuers trying to get a job done.

I don't believe in the recently developed popular notion of "the media." I know how journalists work, and it's rarely en masse. Perhaps that's part of the problem -- they all operate so indpendently on the ground that they double, triple, or even quadruple efforts.

I'm all for sending in media representatives, as long as they stay out of the way. The arrival of Brian Williams was disingenuous and opportunistic. He's taking advantage of other people's misery to advance his career. There's nothing he can do sitting on that freeway overpass that he couldn't do back in New York. He should keep the circus there.

[editor]

Here's a media link re: La National Guard http://www.swingstateproject.com/2005/08/katrina_and_the.php

I wonder if the Cheney/Bush war in Iraq has caused a NG shortage here at home when we need them the most.

Tonight on Larry King the governor of Louisiana said that 4,000 National Guard troops had been deployed. That seemed kind of small to me.

What I wonder is where are the other states? I've been pretty plugged in on this one for the last few days (I'm taking a three-day break now), and I don't remember hearing anything about the other states sending guardsmen there yet. Has anyone heard of any deployments?

[kjb434]

4000 NG had been deployed of a total of 8000 NG. Texas has pledge to send some over.

There are only so many that can go there now. Until the water is pumped out, having 1000s of NG troops won't be of great benefit. Right now they are driving through the shallower waters to get people loaded up and into the Superdome. Then they are going to start getting them out of the city.

We don't have a lack of NG to worry about to handle this situation.

The largest issue to be takled is repairing the levee. That'll be taken care of today. Next is lowering the water in the city.

[citykid09]

The Chronicle online just announced that the people at the SuperDome will be moved to Houston's Astro Dome.

[pineda]

I don't have a problem with the media being there, that's what they're there for. I just wish that they were able to travel to more places to report from, other than Biloxi, Gulfport and NOLA. Lots of people in other areas are without power, phones or transportation and unable to communicate with relatives anxiously awaiting word about the situation there. It would be nice for the reporters to file a report town-by-town instead of camping out in the same place hour after hour, to let people know the conditon of the surrounding areas.

[MidtownCoog]

I agree, editor.

This is like explotation of the situation.

Give these people the respect and help they deserve.

Get out of town, reporters!

[banking214]

I am for the media 100%. Without them, who will get the word out? No one people. I do think some of the media are fools and just full of themselves, but in this case, we need the media to reinforce the COMPLETE devastation in the region. I have family and friends in Mississippi that have nothing left. Without the media on them, people would not feel the need to donate. Ask yourself, how are they going to eat, drink, bath, use the restroom. Money, forget that, there is not any. Most people will not have jobs for months, if not years. One other point. Has ANYONE seen foreign aid coming to our citizens? We are always the first to give, lets see if we get any help.

[Talbot]

I agree about the foreign help banking, I am sick of giving all sorts of help to countries and then when we need it, they don't even bother. I think the only countries that have helped us is Britain and Japan. And then if we don't help, were some evil, world dominating, mean super power.

And then about the looters, I feel for the ones that need to loot to feed their families, but I'd like to spit on those that are stealing big screen tv's ( wtf are they gonna do with that? watch it on I-10 while its plugged into an imaginary outlet waiting for help... sure.)

And someone asked if I would loot if it that happened in Houston, sure I would to support my family, but I wouldn't be stealing 20 pairs of Nike's.

Lastly, the fools shooting at the people trying to help anger me to no end, I hope they are executed right away.

Although, chaos broke out pretty much right when the disaster happened.

[NewMND]

Well Qatar has donated 100 million and Kuwait has donated 500 million, that's over half a billion right there.

[ToolMan]

Well Qatar has donated 100 million and Kuwait has donated 500 million, that's over half a billion right there.

In gallons of oil!!

[Jeebus]

Brian Williams is a tool.. oh yeah, so was every reporter that just had to do a report of them getting air-lifted out of whatever area they were in at the time.

I must have seen at least 4 different local area (houston) reporters take up valuable seats on helicopters. Of course, you also have to count their cameramen who were filming them the whole time.