a few questions after Katrina

Now that we realize how much of the news from New Orleans during those first few days after Hurricane Katrina was made up, what does this mean for us?

Consider a few questions.

• Who is listening anymore? Who is watching? There is so much media input into our daily lives that exaggeration may seem the only way someone thinks they can get anyone’s attention.


• Would a steady stream of the courageous and sacrificial response of citizens of New Orleans be more helpful than such a laser focus on a tiny few who were exploiting the situation?


• What is the responsibility of the news media for accuracy? Did the early reports of mass violence and chaos stop private citizens who lived close enough from coming to help? Would it have mattered either way in the relief efforts?


• Do you remember hearing so much about what the Federal government should or should not do or what a president’s response should or should not be in any other natural disaster? After the Northridge quake of ’94, people would complain about FEMA a bit, criticize the insurance companies and their response, but it was nothing like what we heard a month ago. Also, I don’t recall President Clinton’s name ever being a topic of much conversation at all after the quake.