Friday, September 30, 2005

Was the Real Catastrophe Media Coverage?

"I think 99 percent of it is bulls---," said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Lachney...
"Everything was embellished, everything was exaggerated," said Deputy Police Superintendent - www.nola.com

What are they talking about? The news reports that came out of New Orleans during Katrina. Apparently the people in the Superdome and Convention Center in New Orleans were not all killers and gang bangers!


Following days of internationally reported killings, rapes and gang violence inside the Dome, the doctor from FEMA - Beron doesn't remember his name - came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.

"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalls the doctor saying.

The real total was six, Beron said.

Of those, four died of natural causes, one overdosed and another jumped to his death in an apparent suicide, said Beron, who personally oversaw the turning over of bodies from a Dome freezer, where they lay atop melting bags of ice. State health department officials in charge of body recovery put the official death count at the Dome at 10, but Beron said the other four bodies were found in the street near the Dome, not inside it. Both sources said no one had been killed inside. - www.nola.com

This great news to everyone except journalist, that now have the very hard task of regaining the trust of myself and the American people. And despite all of this the, often sited, BBC article suggest that Katrina saved US media
saying, "Amidst the horror, American broadcast journalism just might have grown its spine back, thanks to Katrina."
Sounds like the exact opposite to me. For the most part, American broadcast journalism was full of mostly false reports. Maybe media outlets should thing twice before tooting their own horn.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I need to take more blood pressure readings from you. You should visit more.

Bicx said...

There was definitely some exaggeration of figures in terms of deaths and shootings. It's crazy.

Btw, were you in the EMCS 322 computer lab around 12:15?

Unknown said...

yeah I was in there, I had to print off my lab for assembly before I ran off to class. where you in there too?

Bicx said...

Hah, when you left the computer lab, I was just walking up, and I was glad that someone(you) opened the door so I wouldn't have to pull out my card. Then I thought you looked familiar and kept staring at you, so if you remember a tall skinny guy standing in the door looking at you kinda strange, that was me. :-P

So now I know you exist.

Unknown said...

that's pretty funny. I don't remember you though... maybe someday...