News execs defend reporters accused of shedding "stance of neutrality"

[Rose Siding]

snip>
News executives defended the tenor of the coverage, saying that reporters witnessing the devastation were best qualified to press government officials about reports that did not correlate to what they were seeing, they said.

"They should be challenged — how did it get this bad?" asked Steve Capus, senior vice president of NBC News. "Why did it take so long to get these people help? Something went wrong."

Reporters must not become part of the story, but it is appropriate for them to show emotion, Capus said. "What other side of the story is there when Americans are dying in evacuation shelters?"

Marcy McGinnis, senior vice president of CBS News, said she could not remember another disaster in which there was such a disconnect between what the government said and what reporters saw.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-media3sep03,1,6896555.story?coll=la-news-politics-national

How can anyone DARE to criticize the media for finally reclaiming this more traditional, adversarial role with government? In fact, THAT'S the story! They are challenging power. "Access" has been devalued.

[maine_raptor]

1. I can't get the LA Times

Just WHO was criticizing the "news" media, and what where thay saying? Does it say in the article?

[Rose Siding]

9. It is presented as a premise for the article

Reporters Confront Leaders on Government's Response
By Scott Collins, Times Staff Writer

News coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina turned confrontational late this week, as many reporters shed their stance of neutrality and joined numerous commentators in criticizing local, state and federal officials for their seemingly slow reaction to the calamity.
end snip>

Several examples of (excellent) journalism follow (Koppel, Cafferty, Soledad O'Brien, A. Cooper)

Critics within the piece include "Accuracy in Media's" Cliff Kincaid(never heard of 'em) and... Limbaugh

[monobrau]

2. Be human first

Sorry folks, but the propaganda mill appears to be one of the casualties of this disaster. I'm sure you'll have the media whores back in line in a week or two, but the magic 911 spell is broken.

[killbotfactory]

3. But what about the good things about this hurricane?!

The Liberal media never shows us all the people who are living, they just focus on the tragedy!

[elehhhhna]

4. Rummy better send the "shutup" anthrax letters to the media again.

Worked the first time!

[Don Claybrook]

5. I had to read all the way to the end of the article to find out WHO

was doing the criticizing of the media.

It turns out to have been the conservative "Accuracy in Media" group and Rush Limbaugh.

Who gives a fuck what these blowhards think? Rush Limbaugh may want to spend his time hiring extra security, since he's one of the only idiots out there in direct opposition to millions and millions of people who are more enraged than they ever have been.

Rush Limbaugh, for his own good, may want to commence shutting the fuck up, but if he doesn't, who cares. I think there's a real good chance that Limbaugh and his disgusting ilk are about to experience wave upon wave of public revulsion, resulting in complete repudiation of his existence.

[rodeodance]

8. I hate to see Bill O'Lielly as the 'good' guy!!

"Excuse me, Senator, I'm sorry for interrupting. I haven't heard that, because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi," Cooper said. "And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated…. It kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats."

On MSNBC, host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough called the situation in the Gulf Coast region "nothing short of a national disgrace."

Commentators who have proved friendly to Republicans criticized some of the relief efforts, if not the Bush administration directly.

Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox News Channel's highly rated "The O'Reilly Factor," told viewers Thursday: "The country expects the government to control law breaking in the hurricane zone, to provide food and shelter, and to prevent any person or company from exploiting this desperate situation."

[Autonomy]

12. O'Reilly is still a moron

I watched him for about 30 seconds yesterday, and he honestly thought, as he sat in his chair in his studio, that he was an expert on rescue operations. This guy is an expert on EVERY situation. He started instructing the people on the scene on what to do, step by step, as if everyone else in the world is an idiot, and the universe would collapse without him. I had to turn off the TV 'cause I can only take him in VERY small doses.

[maine_raptor]

14. O'Reilly is not...check out what he said in that quote

"control law breaking"

That's his first response.....sounds to me that the old racist "southern strategy" thing is still alive and well in the GOP Talking Points.

As for the rest of it:

"to provide food and shelter, and to prevent any person or company from exploiting this desperate situation."

Pablum ("to provide food and shelter", "or company") to make him sound good surrounded by the southern strategy code phrases of the "law and order" type.

Old crap dressed up in new clothes.

Besides he's still a pompous asshole.

[maine_raptor]

10. Old Limpo and AIM?????? That's all?

While it doesn't suprise me, still why would any news media head honcho EVEn worry about them know nothings?

They are SOOOOOOOO pre-Katrina these days. Katrina changed everthing, don't ya know?

[TankLV]

16. Funny how they weren't all that "concerned" when a DEMOCRAT was in office

Why all the sudden "concern" now!

Isn't 5 1/2 years of ass licking enough?

[TankLV]

17. Funny how they weren't all that "concerned" when a DEMOCRAT was in office

Why all the sudden "concern" now!

Isn't 5 1/2 years of ass licking enough?

[Autonomy]

6. How dare the media act indepently of the executive branch!

Don't they know they are just the ministry of propaganda of Bush's dictatorship?!

Funny, tho, because this article only lists two actual criticisms, Limbaugh and Accuracy in Media (so-called), and then only at the end of the article and in passing. For once I am proud of the MSM.

[Bumblebee]

7. we should continue flooding CNN et al with positive letters when

we like what we see.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Well I think we got our media back

As horrific as this week has been, I am thinking we can remember it as the week the media stopped defending bush and co.

[rodeodance]

13. I missed this about Koppel and Fema/Brown

...... "The administration threw the head of FEMA out there to the lion's den" to answer reporters' questions, Rosenstiel said.

Indeed, Koppel's grilling of FEMA's Brown proved pivotal to many viewers, who burned up blogs and online discussion with analyses of the exchange.

"Thank God Koppel is there to ask the common sense questions," a poster wrote at Americablog. "Kudos to Koppel for standing up to the White House spin," wrote Matthew Gross on his blog Deride and Conquer.

By midday Friday, the tone of the coverage seemed to be shifting. As troops began delivering food and water and President Bush toured the Gulf Coast region, CNN blared the headline "Help at Last" on its website.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Koppel was wonderful

Brown said he and FEMA didn't know that there were tens of thousands of people at the convention center and Koppel said "Mr. Brown. don't you people watch television?"

It was beautiful.

[Cleita]

15. Seems to me that Karl Rove is violating the First Ammendment

of the Constitution every time he makes a phone call to change the coverage he doesn't agree with.

[patdem]

18. This recalls the Hindenberg disaster..and that reporter.

oh, the humanity....I do not recall anyone complaining about his emotional response to human disaster? No government agency demanding and even handed report...:grr:

[Kurt Remarque]

19. this after endless hours and

miles of newsprint showing the "brighter side" and lies about iraq?