BBC Viewpoint: "Did Katrina Save US Media?" Powerful article.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4214516.stm

Amidst the horror, American broadcast journalism just might have grown its spine back, thanks to Katrina.

Giant corporations own the networks, and Washington politicians rely on them and their executives to fund their re-election campaigns across the 50 states. It is a perfect recipe for a timid and self-censoring journalistic culture that is no match for the masterfully aggressive spin-surgeons of the Bush administration.

The most spectacular example came last Friday night on Fox News, the cable network that has become the darling of the Republican heartland. This highly successful Murdoch-owned station sets itself up in opposition to the "mainstream liberal media elite". But with the sick and the dying forced to sit in their own excrement behind him in New Orleans, its early-evening anchor Shepard Smith declared civil war against the studio-driven notion that the biggest problem was still stopping the looters.

And it is not only on TV and radio where the gloves have come off. The most artful supporter of the administration on the staff of the New York Times, columnist David Brooks, has also had enough. He and others are calling the debacle the "anti 9-11": "The first rule of the social fabric - that in times of crisis you protect the vulnerable - was trampled," he wrote on Sunday. "Leaving the poor in New Orleans was the moral equivalent of leaving the injured on the battlefield."

... more

[brettdale]

1. Keep Kicked

Keep Kicked.

[darkism]

2. Kicked and nominated

Excellent article...but I hope the media KEEPS its spine.

[tuvor]

3. Thank you. Recommended.

[GettysbergII]

4. awesome kick

[craigolemiss]

5. HOLEEEE CRAP

if you haven't read this YOU NEED TO

[Trevelyan]

33. I thought it was powerful at first too, but that is just because we are

used to pap. I meant to write a positive review but got angrier and angrier at what they had left out and doesn't Murdoch own BBC now? I think they fired Greg Palast after he and others wrote about the fights between the blair government censorship and BBC's attempts to defend journalistic freedom but according to the British White Rose Society the press isn't talking about the British 'Patriot' act that has been passed piecemeal under the radar and the new requirements for passports of pupil measurement and White Rose Samizdat did a very good article on why they object to this and the National ID card.

My comments to BBC:

It was a good article but deceptive in that it did not tell about the real atrocity that caused Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera to melt down and that is that people were being kept captive in the Dome with dead bodies and that the MREs Meals Ready to eat had arrived by truck instead of heliocopter as they should BUT THE MRES AND WATER HAD STILL NOT BEEN DISTRIBUTED. For those locked out of the Dome there was a checkpoint like the infamous US military Checkpoints in Iraq and people were turned back by the military and not allowed to walk to the next town where there was food and water and on the bridges were food drops would have been easy, promises were made but no drinkable water or food drop.

The Red Cross and the National Guard were kept out because of the violence but that is not was was said on the Red Cross website, like Canada who had been ready to go to deliver water and food and at the last minute not allowed to go into US airspace it did not make sense unless it were an MK-ULTRA type experiment in Martial Law. The Red Cross and the Guard are TRAINED to go into combat situations.

And the lie about the single shot fired at a huge heliocopter being the reason they couldn't drop food or land to rescue people was proved when someone called the FAA who said not a single shot had been fired at rescue heliocopters and they had contact with EVERY AIRCRAFT OVER NEW ORLEANS.

It seems you left out an awful lot though the summary was clever even that left out the reason for Shepard Smith's rebellion and it was more than the elderly and the dying in their own feces, it was the obvious deliberate genocide.

Glad to hear someone come close to the truth but you need to come a little closer and tell the truth about the American and British "Patriot" Act which has been sneakily passed in both countries without media attention and which is really martial law.

And the genocide that is STILL CONTINUING in New Orleans is quite deliberate and that needs to be reported on in-depth.

British and Australian citizens were also kept captive in the Dome and you need to speculate just a little on the reason for the false imprisonment.

(BTW, does anyone have the link for the Shepard-Geraldo meltdown, I downloaded it from DU site and it is powerful but would like to put a link on my Yahoo website and with two of my gymnastics sites, the people in the UK from their comments to my political posts don't care at all about politics and are offended by even a small bit of the truth)

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. On a couple of your points

No, Murdoch does not own the BBC (God, that would be a nightmare - and something worth launching a coup about). Neither has Palast been fired, as far as I can tell. His reports on Newsnight have always been occasional; the last was in March, about peak oil. http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=417&row=1

[mogster]

6. I wondered what the BBC thought about Am. journalists

Now I don't wonder anymore ;-)

:toast: to the BBC AND to the new found spirit of Am. journalism! That is what's needed to topple Bush :bounce:

[MadeinOhio]

7. I think it comes down to the fact, they all were there and they saw it.

They experienced what death and desolation was first-hand. At least for CNN that's why they came back.

[klebean]

8. logged my comments to bbc and kick! nt

[donheld]

9. Very good

:kick:

[psychopomp]

10. I'll believe it when I see it

:kick:

[Why Syzygy]

11. grotesque is the word I would choose

When the back-slapping president told the Fema boss on Friday morning that he was doing "a heck of a job" and spent most of his first live news conference in the stricken area praising all the politicians and chiefs who had failed so clearly, it beggared belief.

The president looked affronted when a reporter covering his Mississippi walkabout had the temerity to suggest that having a third of the National Guard from the affected states on duty in Iraq might be a factor.

[MadeinOhio]

16. He really believes they're fighting them there so not over here. He's sick

He also knows all that oil is very good news for his business....but his double personality thinks terrorists are going to invade! :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[slor]

12. "As President Bush scurries back ..."

LOL "scurries". He is a rat!

[DELUSIONAL]

13. The comments from the GOPigs are interesting & expected

Talking points -- people could have left.

Blame it on the local folks -- their fault.

This word picture is why everyone in the world but especially the US should be angry with the bushie administration:

But with the sick and the dying forced to sit in their own excrement behind him in New Orleans, its early-evening anchor Shepard Smith declared civil war against the studio-driven notion that the biggest problem was still stopping the looters.

[Disturbed]

15. Most of the Corp Media was going down in the ratings.

They were running out of dramatic stories like Jacko,runaway bride, girl in Aruba. This disaster was a great thing for them.

[DELUSIONAL]

18. I've heard that the ratings have gone through the roof??

Perhaps I might be lured back into watching TV news. Naw -- I prefer getting my news from the Internet -- but I do miss watching the BBC.

[MADem]

24. When the media challenges the status quo

...people watch.

The cheerleading squad that has passed for reportage in this country since the coup of 00 got old real quick. So people tuned out, and watched reality shows instead. Even contrived reality, courtesy of the corporate clowns, had more real life drama than the pap we were being fed disguised as news.

And until now, not enough people bothered to realize it. Sure, many did, like those here, but a great percentage of people just went on with their insular lives.

Bodies floating in flooded streets kind of jacks you up and makes you take notice, though....

[pippin]

14. Katrinagate

Let's keep the word alive. Love this part:

"It is way too early to tell whether this really will become "Katrinagate" for President Bush, but how he and his huge retinue of politically-appointed bureaucrats react in the weeks ahead will be decisive.

Government has been thrown into disrepute, andmany Americans have realised, for the first time, that the collapsed, rotten flood defences of New Orleans are a symbol of failed infrastructure across the nation.

Blaming the state and city officials, as the president is already trying to do over Katrina, will not wash."

:kick:

[jzodda]

17. Fantasitic Article!

I was watching Shep Smith too on Friday when he lost it. Was very powerful to watch. I hope he maintains his objectivity and independence when he gets back to the studio

[Douglas Carpenter]

19. Great Article---Recommended

[Le Taz Hot]

20. All of this may have been true

the first couple of days, but for the last 2-3 days it seems ALL of them are taking every opportunity to show those idiotic * photo ops. I REALLY hope I'm wrong here but I'm getting the sinking feeling the MSM are headed back to their old ways.

[Patiod]

21. Spine gone

Faux is now the "all happy, all-going-great" channel now. I'm stuck at an inn where it's the only thing on TV, and it's making me sick.

Things are great! The Feds are really responding great! X million MREs (and tasty, too!), X thousand troops, X Coast Guard rescues, constant hot running quotes from Generals, Chertoff, Commanders, etc. Things are great! (well, except that the Mayor and the Governor fucked up, but other than that, things are great!)

[Prodemsouth]

22. Sorry but most British commentary and speculation on

USA current events turns out to be wrong. BBC does great reporting but any commentary on the USA should be viewed with a grain of salt. They are under the assumption that this country is smarter and not as racist and backward as it is in reality. Brits seem to lack the cold hard fact based view that continental Europe has of us. I will wait on my judgment on the change in the media. There fairness doctrine is still gone. Since the growth of cable news and talk radio pundits and spin doctors still have great influence on our News. The media is still very much part of corporate America.

[Arugula Latte]

31. Good insights. Sadly, I agree.

I don't think it's quite comprehensible to an educated British mind how deeply racist and depraved and sickening and cruel some of the thinking and attitudes are in this country... P.S. Yes, I know the Brits have their own racists and their Empire crushed millions of non-whites.

[Toots]

23. moral equivalent of leaving the injured on the battlefield."

They would know nothing about that though bcause they have never been near a battlefield but if they were I am sure they would be the first to up and run and leave everyone else on the battlefiel.

[bleever]

25. kick

[jillan]

26. Bill Maher made the same excellent point over the weekend.

He was interviewing Anderson Cooper, that is still in the Gulf Region.
He was giving Cooper well deserved kudos.

He asked Cooper this question, Maher was saying that the media took alot of heat on Iraq and on Plame, but now it seems that the media has had enough!

We will see what happens when tempers cool down.

[StellaBlue]

27. Yep

Government by the rich, for the rich.

WAKE UP AMERICA! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!

:banghead:

[omega minimo]

28. How come the UK use English so much gooder than US?

Nomination #36!

[BrightKnight]

29. The BBC grew a little backbone too. -- n/t

[Kire]

30. kick

[cloud75]

32. i'm glad someone in the jounalistic field is calling out the media it's

not just us anymore thank you bbc for coming to our rescue.

[Q]

35. A very important and relevant article...

...that everyone should read.

We're not there yet...but our very Democracy and survival depend on a FREE PRESS.

[Scurrilous]

36. Great article...

...kick :thumbsup:

[ikojo]

37. I don't share the optimism of the BBC...once KKKarl Rove goes on

his attacks the corporate media will once again assume the position and begin spouting pro Bush propaganda. Once people start having Katrina fatigue then it will be back to that missing WHITE girl in Aruba and whichever celebrity is sleeping with Brad Pitt.