Storm News that Kills - Tinkerbelle Reporting

STORM REPORTING THAT KILLS
Tinkerbelle News Reflects the Fantasyland that is Bush America

By Cheryl Seal

When I watched the news coverage in the run up to Katrina, I was very disturbed by the irresponsible reports issued by newscasters. Examples: "Katrina is weakening!" (from a category 5 to a strong category 4). "Well it looks like New Orleans has dodged a bullet!" And then, of course, there were the network "man/woman on the scene" standing in peripheral areas out in the rain and wind at the onset of landfall, looking more like they were enjoying the thrill, and showing only what looked like a bad windstorm in the background. Even worse, in this storm, as in past hurricanes, people who stayed behind to "ride the storm out" were given all sorts of media attention. A party atmosphere dominated some of the run-up coverage, in fact.

As I followed the coverage, I had a sinking feeling that some of the people watching such stuff would not realize the danger they were in. And that as a result, that they would die.

It was as a direct result of this type of coverage that many people in New Orleans and Mississippi decided to ride out the storm. Few news casts made it clear that the difference between a low category 5 and strong category 4 is negligible in terms of damage, or that being even 40 or 50 miles from dead center of the hurricane does not mean that an area will be spared - hurricane force winds from Katrina (and Rita) extend(ed) outward from the center over 50 miles. And flooding is driven not just by a storm surge but by torrential rain.

Did the media learn? Hardly. Once again, as Rita approaches, many newsfolk, in their eagerness to have anything new to report on the storm, and wanting to be the bearers of good news, began gushing Thursday afternoon that the storm "was weakening" and that Galveston and Houston seemed to have "dodged a bullet." One newswoman I heard described Rita as "potentially deadly." Potentially? Incredible! The headlining article of the "Galveston County Daily News" online mid-afternoon on Thursday was "Things Looking Up for Galveston." All because the storm MIGHT go a little further to the east of the city - just like Katrina went east of New Orleans.

By late Thursday afternoon, I heard more than one newperson sounding even more upbeat because Rita was down to 145 mph. Even though the National Weather Service discussion at 5:00 EST stated that the weakening was likely temporary because the storm had picked up a cool eddy, but that it was headed for a warm patch within 12 hours. But hey, that's soooo negative!

This cheery "optimism" is the trademark of the fantasy-world-based Bush Republican regime. These people believe that all you have to do is think good thoughts and believe that things will be OK and they will. That if you BELIEVE that you can successfully invade and occupy Iraq, then you don't even need to have a plan! If no one sees the coffins coming back, or the broken soldiers at soon-to-be-closed Walter Reed Medical Center, then there isn't any REAL death and maiming - it's all reduced to tidy statistics.

In this fantasy world, if you just stay optimistic enough, no category 4 or 5 hurricanes will ever hit the US, and if they do, somehow, everything will just take care of itself in the aftermath. Laura Bush epitomized this "see/hear/speak no negatives" attitude when she clucked disapprovingly over having to see all those unpleasant shots of post-Katrina New Orleans on the news. Sorry to invade your fantasy world, Laura with anything as untidy and negative as suffering and chaos. Suffering and chaos traceable directly to the see/hear/speak no negatives attitude of the Bush regime.

This attitude has suffused American news. Now, when someone honestly reports the facts of an unpleasant but important story, they are just being "negative" or "biased" (biased against WHAT? Lies?) So that same carefully cultivated "governor" on news has unfortunately extended into storm coverage.

So how many people in Houston/Galveston will now decide not to hassle with evacuation because of the optimistic reports of irresponsible newscasters? Hundreds, if not thousands, probably. How many will die? Hard to predict. But this time, with the military in place, we won't get to see the bodies and suffering. .

As I watch the preparations for Rita unfold, it seems clear that FEMA and the state and local governments are trying hard to learn from the lessons of Katrina. It also seems clear to me that too many newsfolk in the US have learned NOTHING.

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