Monday, September 05, 2005

Has Katrina saved US media?

Today I read this BBC news article that suggests US media has finally got their teeth back after years of being kind to the Bush Administration. Could the government response to hurricane Katrina be the impotice that leads journalism to return to being a voice of dissent?

The author points out that large US media outlets are under the influence of the same corporate bodies that support politicians, and in the current cultural-economic climate, money is power. So much power, it seems, that it controls who gets a voice, or at least whose voices get the best amplification. So will moral indignation be enough to force media outlets to speak out? Are administrative mistakes serious enough to ignite this kind of attitude change?

4 comments:

Bob K said...

I'm finding myself wondering why this same media isn't asking the mayor of New Orleans why he didn't have a better evacuation plan. He goes on air and bashes the feds and takes absolutely no responsibility.

CityStreams said...

I agree with Bob. Why were all those school buses just sitting there collecting water when the Louisana legislational flood plan was evacuation by means of city transportation and school buses in the event of flooding? It seems like they didn't even follow their own plans and instead of admitting fault or even partial fault they want to make this a racial issue and blame the president. I think the media has been pulling towards the left for the last forty years. And there hasn't been an exception since Bush took office. He's been bombarded with criticism on every side. Sadly most of the issues he's been blamed for were issues like this ~ as if it was his fault there was a hurricane.

Ryan Henderson said...

do you watch the daily show? john stewart feels the same way as bbc, that the media is finally getting it. he led his audience in applauding the us media which he so expertly mocks.

Dan said...

I agree. The media is finally asking the tough questions attempting to get accountability from leadership. Now that Chertoff has removed Brown from his Katrina relief duties it will be interesting to see if anything changes. The media reports indicate his experience with disaster recovery efforts is nil-to-none. Who knows if/when the dust will settle and the truth will be known.