In all the finger pointing at the New Orleans Katrina debacle, the most cogent accusation was delivered by Lt. Gen. Russel Honore after taking charge of relief efforts. Reporters peppered him about deaths, slow relief efforts, lawlessness and which government officials were responsible for failures. Gen. Honores reply is a classic that should be writ on every journalists press pass: Dont get stuck on stupid! We are moving forward, he said. Please dont confuse people. You are part of the public message, so help us get the message straight. The general had reason to be blunt. I was shocked to hear members of my profession depart from reporting to venting their feelings. In the olden days, we called them sob sisters. Most newspapers had one, but they were relegated to tearjerkers about homeless orphans and spurned wives. Now, ugh, they have reappeared as color commentators on TV. Katrina reporting seemed more soap opera than journalism. It has become the fashion for media idiots to stand out in a Cat-4 hurricane to tell us the wind is blowing. More depressing is post-storm reporting that for Katrina was an all-time fiasco. Various media said 10,000 people might have been killed. In the four weeks since, the death total is reported by the New York Times to be 885. Terrible! Yes, but. Louisiana Health Department figures for 2004 (latest available) give the Orleans Parish mortality rate for all causes as 840 residents 28 per day. One can extrapolate from official records, therefore, that Katrina is responsible for 45 more Orleanian deaths than usual. Of course, reporters of Katrinas aftermath were quoting reliable sources principally Gov. Kathleen Blanco, Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Edwin P. Compass. From them came such whoppers as armed mobs roaming the streets, murders, rapes of babies in the Superdome, widespread looting, abandonment of nursing home residents, and desertions of police, firemen and 911 operators. In hindsight, we learn that there was some looting and two murders but no rapes of babies, shooting at rescue helicopters, or sharks swimming in flooded streets -- as described by inexperienced reporters. Real reporters verify important statements with a second source and leave opinions to columnists back home. The decline of journalism began with the advent of 24/7 cable news and website bloggers. It became entertainment. For Katrina anchors, Fox News gave us Shepherd Smith and Geraldo Riviera. MSNBC gave us Chris Matthews Smith became emotionally wrought about stranded evacuees afoot on I-10 elevated highway. He refused to cut away from his slot so he could hyperventilate about negligent rescues. Riveria, ham actor of cable news, broke into uncontrollable sobs and hugs while interviewing a Black mother and child stranded in a flooded home. Matthews, unabashed liberal, came unglued during a Katrina interview with Congressman Peter T. King. The latter insisted first-response duties were those of local authorities -- rather than President Bush. Rep. King committed truth: You are distorting reality. Thats the problem. You and MSNBC have been carried away with this. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. This was an unsought answer. In a tantrum, Matthews abruptly cut off Kings camera and microphone. Matthew Felling, of the center for Media and Public Affairs, notes that conditions in New Orleans were chaotic, and reporters accepted wild assertions from distraught sources. The fog of war, and gusts of a hurricane, cloud vital truths, says Felling. What we are seeing here is no different than the reports of museum looting after U.S. troops entered Baghdad. Its not that different from election night 2000 when some journalists prematurely declared a winner. In all three cases, the public would have been served by a bit more patience and less feigned certainty. Social scientists call these over-predicted events. Just so. If journalism as a profession is to survive, the public will have to demand: Just the facts, please! PARTING SHOTS Sen. Robert Byrd says he wants six more years in the Senate just as would any other 87-year-old. * * * Saudi Arabia says it is going to pump more oil to help out the United States. How about, instead, pumping in Saudi terrorists from Iraq? |
