Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BigBlackEquus]

I just got to thinking about this after hearing that many of the media reports of the dead, rapes in the Superdome, and other things are apparently not accurate, as were reported earlier this past week. And we are now hearing that the numbers of dead are far fewer than the numbers in excess of 10,000 that the media was making headlines with.

In the wake of this tragedy, the media seemed to latch onto any and all horrible stories that they could find in order to make a more tasty news report. Along with every report were the cries of government irresponsiblity and lack of planning. They made the people of New Orleans, who are 2/3 black, look like a bunch of criminals and gangbangers who would shoot down anyone who came to bring relief. So many people avoided sending relief, or the government was afraid to go in there right away. We don't exactly know what yet.

I am of the opinion that this irresponsible journalism has cost the lives of many of my black brothers and sisters. Are they guilty of politicising this to a point where it did more damage than helped? Did they, in their lust to take a swipe at the current administration, cause the death of more people?

[rapier]

Well for a kick off it seems that Ray Nagins emotive cries of 10.000 dead are discredited as the exxagerations of a mayor desperate to get help for his city. And it seems as though a lot of the troops weren't actually nedded in the end- most of them had nothing to do once they actually gor there.

Ah.the media..yes. They have to sell papers you know.

[Tiger Beer]

I'm still struggling to get a sense of New Orleans. Its also difficult being here in Korea and not being able to hear the talk show hosts, talk radio, local media coverage, people in the street, and such.

But the stuff I'm getting on the mainstream news sources are overly political. One thing I've definetely noticed is an extreme lack of 'people are coming together and helping each other out' type of stories that the media would usually try to focus on.

[gdimension]

BBE,

Don't know if you saw it in a post I put up earlier, but an interesting article that makes the same point as you are making may be found here.

[cellphone]

It's sort of like the flip opposite of what the media was doing all through the 90s, plus a few more years.

[Pligganease]

What is funny to me is how quickly the Bush supporters, in order to avert blame from W., jumped up and claimed that the military was scared to go in because they were shooting at the rescue workers and helicopters...

Yet they say, in the same breath, that the US military is comprised of the bravest heroes our country has.

They are brave enough to go into kill-zones around the world, but they are afraid of thugs...

What-the-hell-ever...

[Privateer]

What I want from the media is daily live TV footage of what's going on all over NO and interviews with people on the spot. Is that actually possible to get in Korea? I can't get CNN where I am.

[Bulsajo]

Q for you, BBE:
If the media HADN'T been reporting that there were 25,000 people at the Convention Center NOT receiving any assistance for 4 days, how much longer would it have taken to get those people help?

I'd say that in this case, as in general- the media help more than they hinder.

[BigBlackEquus]

Of course the media needs to cover this sort of thing. But I'm wondering myself why they weren't there with cameras recording all of this stuff. Countless media outlets have station helicopters. They could have easily flown them in, set up shop, and run around in there recording anything and everything. Why didn't they? Were they scared of being killed? They imbed reporters with insurgents in Iraq, but are afraid to go into the Superdome? Come on! If all of this were happening, then why the media breakdown in showing it?

A friend of mine boldly theorized that it's because it just didn't look good to show that all of the tension was caused by blacks with racial chips on their shoulders. He may very well be true. I saw a report on CNN from some English tourists who said that exact thing on camera.

I don't know exactly what to believe, but in any case, either the media needs to fess up that it WAS unsafe to go in there, and the government WAS right in not sending the red cross in there (the red cross now says they were obeying military orders not to go in)

or

they need to prove to us why THEY weren't in there covering it.

To answer Tiger Beer, I feel this was all about not allowing the present administration a chance to enjoy a surge in popularity when Americans rally around the flag, as they say. In every other tragedy, including 9/11, Americans rally behind a president and his numbers balloon. I just don't think that was palatable to the news media organizations after they have spent so many hours making him look bad for so long with the Iraq thing. In fact, many have argued that Bush won the election based on the rallies caused after 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

I guess I just see the media trying to control the flow of this thing -- at the expense of the lives of my black brothers and sisters.

[Tiger Beer]

[BigBlackEquus]

Yeah, it's quite evident to this Democrat-oriented bro that Katie Couric on down are hell-bent to make Iraq into the biggest mire-filled cesspool of hell they can and let Bushie boil in it as his legacy. In all honesty, watching Clinton on TV makes me think of him as more of a class-act than I even thought before. You can tell from his statements that he honestly thinks Bush is getting the raw end of the stick on a great many things, and he's sorry about that. He knows what it's like to be president and be under fire for things which are virtually uncontrollable. But to see Hillary jump the gun on faulting others was almost painful for me to watch.

Sure, some elements went after Clinton, but nothing like this. It's so obvious even to people like me, I wonder what Republican-leaning people think about it.

The whole Dan Rather thing sure didn't help my opinions on all of this, either. That all blew up on CBS's face. I wonder if this will for any other media outlets in any way.

[Bulsajo]

Well what do you make of the video form Fox news that Hollywood Action has started a thread about? This one?
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=44485
WE'RE TALKING FOX NEWS HERE PEOPLE.
Unquestionably the most conservative and pro-Bush administration oriented of the major networks.
It wasn't explicitly anti-Bush but it most certainly was "what the F__k is going on here because this is all so very very wrong."

[BigBlackEquus]

There was chaos. Tell us something we don't know.

It's hard to know what to say until we get more facts. I have to wonder if the military, or whoever it was not letting people leave, most likely did so because if they didn't and people drowned/died trying to go somewhere, they'd be lambasted and blamed by the media for letting them go. I think the military guys on the ground got an order not to let anyone leave, and then that is all they heard.

Still doesn't pin this on Bush. It's somebody in between that screwed up here. Actually, sounds like a mountain of screw-ups. One thing is for sure, the N.O. mayor is a total idiot. This man has zero leadership qualities whatsoever. I fault him for much of this situation, pre-superdome.

[Bulsajo]

I was just trying to help examine the Q you posited in your OP.
If you want to shift the discussion to Bush that's okay too.

[BigBlackEquus]

The big thing I'm interested in at the moment is why all of the shooting at aid helicopters was reported. People from the FAA are saying it never happened. MSNBC had recorded sounds of gunfire going off in the background with a helicopter landing or something that was next to impossible to see.

What is the truth?

Also, we keep hearing about women and babies being raped in the Superdome. Hearing. No proof. Only endless news reports regurgitating the same thing.

What is the truth?