The ten most poorly-reported stories in American journalism

One of the most poorly covered stories in American journalism history is Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaches.

This is according to W. Joseph Campbell in his book Getting it Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism.

Says Campbell, the news coverage of the storm, the levee breaches and the aftermath was flawed and exaggerated.

“The coverage made it seem as though the city were a haven for lurking criminals waiting for the opportune moment to inflict violence on others.”

As Campbell described in his book, the consequences of the poor unverified reporting caused distinct harm to “an already wounded population.”

In addition to the levee breach event, Campbell also discusses nine other fascinating examples in recent history of where unverified reporting became national vetted fact.

For Levees.org’s book review of this fine work by Campbell published in 2010, click here.

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