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Look closer. Think harder. Choose the sound argument over the clever one.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Katrina spawned plague of misinformation
USA Today's headline captures it pretty well. And Hugh Hewitt reported this two weeks ago.
This event occurred on U.S. soil. It involved U.S. citizens. Reporters had pretty much full access (better even than FEMA, it seemed). It occurred in these modern times--last month--not in dark ages past. The reports were first-hand accounts from people we had no reason to question.
The reporters were enlightened people, professional journalists holding the highest standards, reinforced by their editors' multiple layers of checks and balances. Not the Weekly World News you see in the check-out line, but reputable organizations like CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, national newspapers.
And we had no reason to doubt what we were seeing with our own eyes.
Now we're left with a confusing mix of truth and fiction.
MORE: Richard Roeper helps sort things out in the Chicago Sun-Times.
10/19 Update: Gateway Pundit fact-checks statements made since Katrina. HT: Instapundit
12/23 Update, Mona Charen calls it the worst coverage of the year: "the fabric of reporting on Katrina has unraveled utterly, and it's enough to encourage caution -- if not outright cynicism -- about all reporting, particularly during emergencies."
3/7/2006: Hats off to Popular Mechanics Magazine for their debunking Katrina myths. (I've praised their debunking work before.) They show us Katrina's "Big Truth": The disaster response to Hurricane Katrina was by far the largest, fastest rescue in American history.
Comments:
(Please keep in mind that each commenter's opinions are only his/her own.)
Ten deaths total between the Superdome and the Convention center, so 30-40 was false, as was the 7-year-old with her throat slit. Your inclination fools you.
Much more than reporters making things up, it's them dropping their standards and reporting any falsehood. Functionally, it's about the same.
It's a betrayal of the public, who relies on them for the truth. And, sadly, it could lead many to shrug off the next disaster as overblown hysteria.
Was it deliberate? Were there biases at work? E.g., "It's probably true, and [insert-a-disadvantaged-group's-name-here] will be better off if I report it." Or, "If I rigorously fact-check this, I'll be seen as a racist, or insensitive to the plight of the poor." I doubt we'll ever get to the bottom of these questions.
Rather, it was the omission of important information in your initial post that fooled me.
It would've been helpfull if you'd included those links into your main post. The links you included didn't negate the guy's story. Logically, I had no reason to disbelieve it.
Now that I can see that his story was, indeed false, I see your point and I agree. That's pretty shamefull.
My inclination fools me... Sheesh.
And that kinda goes back to my original point: bombarded by a mix of truth and fiction leaves us muddling and guessing our way through it all.
Sorry 'bout that "inclination fools you" remark. :-/
I'm slammed with work, but pondering your other comment.
Sewerden's off-line? What's up?
If this doesn't work, I have another box I can move the site over to. Of course, I'm about to head out to DC for a week for work, so who knows when it'll get done...
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