Media Coverage on Hurricane Katrina Essay - 1289 Words

Media Coverage on Hurricane Katrina News of the devastating hurricane Katrina and its economic, political, social, and humanitarian consequences dominated global headlines in an unprecedented manner when this natural catastrophe struck the region of New Orleans in mid August 2005 (Katrinacoverage.com). As a tradition, large-scale disasters like Katrina, inevitably, bring out a combination of the best and the worst news media instincts. As such, during the height of Hurricane Katrina’s rage, many journalists for once located their gag reflex and refused to swallow shallow and misleading excuses and explanations from public officials. Nevertheless, the media’s eagerness to report thinly substantiated rumors may have played a key role in†¦show more content†¦In deed, a survey posted in the LexisNexis database reveal than on September 1st 2005, the narrative of the news media with regard to the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina shifted. John Gibson, the Fox News anchor somewhat helped set the stage for this shift (Brauer 216). To paraphrase him, Gibson said that there were all kinds of [media] reports of massive looting, fires and violence in New Orleans. He then said that â€Å"thugs† has opened fire at rescue crews. Gibson then said that thousands of police personnel and National Guard troops were on the scene working round the clock to contain the situation, and thousands more were on the way there (Brauer 216). As a consequence, he warned looters to stay alert. As a rejoinder, David Lee Miller, the interviewee, concurred with Gibson that there were a lot of murders taking place in New Orleans. However, after Gibson was done interviewing Miller, he acknowledged that they (Fox News) were yet to confirm most of such reports. But the flaming baton would not die out. Later that same night, when conversing with the Reverend Al Sharpton, MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson said confidently that people were being raped, shot, and murdered (Carr). He also alleged that even police officers were being shot. Some journalists seemed to rely on what they called rumors and scraps of information. However, some did find authentic sources. Around 10 p.m. that very same night, Fox’s Greta Van Susteren conducted an interview with Dr. Charles Burnell, aShow MoreRelatedRisk And Politics Of Disaster Coverage1263 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of â€Å"Risk and Politics of Disaster Coverage in Haiti and Katrina† Introduction and Purpose of the Study The article, â€Å"Risk and Politics of Disaster Coverage in Haiti and Katrina,† by Jennifer Petersen of the University of Virginia, which appeared in the journal Communication, Culture Critique in 2014, provides a comparison and contrast of the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina (2005), which devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast and was the costliest natural disaster in the nation’s historyRead MoreThe American Natural Disaster Hurricane Katrina1209 Words   |  5 PagesThe American natural disaster Hurricane Katrina is likely to be the most actively blamed associated disaster in the United States. 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Many citizens were left with questions and the image poetically raised awareness to aspects of post-Katrina recovery that are still being discussed till this day. For the short time it existed as an untampered image on Elysian Fields Avenue, it managedRead MoreThe Issues With Organizational Communication978 Words   |  4 PagesIssues with Organizational Communication Crises are seen substantially as media events. Therefore media coverage whether they have been natural or man-made; is indicative of how important, essential and even at times, how down right frustrating the media has been and will continue to be before, during and after a crisis. Many people tend to turn to the media and various different media sites (such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to gain pertinent information regarding an event that has taken place