So far incredible news from Katrina, the dead body count is really low compared to the numbers in the thousands we heard about.
So how did the media get the number and keep putting it out?
A few thoughts.
Let's say you are a reporter at the scene. The going story is that it is a disaster. The biggest ever. Every network is live with the same story. The pictures sure match that thought.
Does the producer or reporter take up any airtime saying well maybe it is not as bad, maybe there is some good news? No. Why? It is the old story that that a house on fire is news, the house not on fire is not news.
So you show the house on fire. If someone drops a number like there could be thousands dead, the story is that there are probably thousands dead, then officials are expecting thousands dead, then by the time the evening news is on it becomes thousands are dead.
But wait what if the information from someone else is slow down we never said that? Does the reporter change the story? Probably not. If they do it probably becomes "officials confused and argue about death toll."
Again the house not on fire (maybe fewer dead) isn't going to get airtime. In fact if anyone came to say maybe the estimate is going to go up BOOM on the air they would go. You would never see it go backwards. Can you think of ANYONE reporting "we were wrong earlier today saying there are thousands dead, that was an alarmist and premature report and we regret the airing of the story."
Tell me when that happens...
Still refusing to say they were wrong and alarmist even now the media asks the question "where are the dead bodies?" Hey, they aren't there (I hope) you guys were wrong, off by thousands.
I saw a reporter talking to a military guy in charge of patrolling New Orleans the Thursday or Friday after the flood. He was asked about the snipers. You heard there were snipers all over correct? He said "What Snipers?" Baghdad has snipers he said, he heard gunshots, but snipers, no. But later on the news and still today the reports of snipers continue. Snipers are the house on fire, no snipers? What's the story on that? It will go down in history that there were snipers all over NO after the flood. There probably were shootings and gunshots heard but snipers? I bet not. Hey tonight there are gunshots in Oakland.
One image I was told about were the dead bodies floating around NO. It was a popular story. Probably true. There are probably pictures on the web. But the way I heard it reported was to give the impression that dead bodies were everywhere. Like some zombie movie. Reporters saw them everywhere they looked. Was that true? No.
But if you are reporting the story the sensational report like that gets passed on. It is the hot headline and even if you didn't see it, well you heard about it and since you are giving the report from the scene for the evening news report you have to mention it. Did I ever see a tempered report about there not being that many floating bodies or a tempered report about anything? No. It was always the sensational. When you see the same sensational footage replayed over and over remember it is because it was the most sensational footage they filmed NOT because it was the most accurate representation of the situation.
It is like showing sports highlights of a game on ESPN. The news has become a highlight reel. Maybe it always has been.
Here's why I think the reporters go with the most sensational parts of the most sensational story, it is what the reporter wants, what the producer wants, what the news directors want, and it is what the public wants.
I thought ALL of the New Orleans area was under water and there were at least 10,000 bodies floating around. Not true. Not even close on either count.
Why show the parts of town not flooded when you have all this footage of the town underwater? Well sure it would give a more accurate picture of the situation, but hey the story is the flooded, not what wasn't. Like I said here an untold story is that this was one of the most successful search and rescue missions ever.
The lesson?
Have bullshit detector on max power and max range at all times.
Instapundit threw me a link and I found this post that also links to me that says Dilbert was way ahead of me.
Free CD?! Kinda.
Hey the station I work at KFOG San Francisco is offering CD's as thank you gifts for Red Cross donations. It has been pretty popular, so far close to $280,000 has been donated by our "Fogheads." Here's the link to more information.
I'm amazed that no one has posited the hidden hand of Karl Rove in the New Orleans death count overestimate. Using the silly but often used "whose interest does it serve" type of illogic, the case is clear:
ReplyDelete1. Iraq casualties have fallen since the huge estimates of Katrina deaths.
2. The Iraq terrorists/insurgents must be aware that we are otherwise occupied and are not paying attention to their suicide bombings, so they are sitting around waiting to be arrested by allied forces.
3. If the estimate of Katrina deaths was wrong, it must be deliberately wrong, and if it benefited President Bush and the United States it must have been done by Karl Rove.
It is a tough job but someone has to do it.
To be fair, the original death count estimate in the hours immediately following the collapse of Towers 1 and 2 on 9/11 was in the 30,000 to 50,000 range. So the media taking worst-case estimates and running with them right away is not uncommon when you have disasters in progress, and from a self-promotional standpoint for the major news outlets, the bigger the number, the more likely people are to either tune in the channel or buy the magazine or newspaper.
ReplyDeleteThe story they won't report is that a 100,000 trapped in a devastated city with a near total absence of authority manage to take care of themselves well enough that fewer than 1/2 of one percent of them died.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty amazing.
There were actually reports that the draining of NO would be delayed because pump intakes would become clogged with bodies.
ReplyDeleteWow, Rick, I thought you were just a big goofball that I here on the radio every day, and I mean that in the best way and with all due respect.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see some sound reasoning, and in the heart of the Bay Area no less. Keep it up.