A reporter for the New York Times has made a very good observation while reporting on CNN’s Anderson Cooper and his ‘loud media voice’ on behalf of Gulf residents.
“As the (BP oil) crisis nears the two-month mark, there are signs that the news media are taking on a more adversarial role, just as they did after Hurricane Katrina and the widespread flooding of New Orleans,” writes Brian Stelter.
What an interesting thing to say because he is so right!
When the federal governments’ levees broke in New Orleans on August 29, 2005, retired spokespersons for the Army Corps of Engineers quickly fanned out to talk to national reporters about why New Orleans flooded so horrifically.
Using a technique documented by Georgianne Nienaber, these spokespersons gave out crafted misinformation designed to shift responsibility for the flooding away from the federal agency and onto to the victims of the flood. The myths and misinformation was then disseminated by the national media.
Headlines screamed undocumented unfounded reports that the Corps of Engineers grand plans for barrier structures were blocked by local interests.
And now the victim-bashing may be happening again but there is a difference. The residents of metro New Orleans are not displaced, are not silenced and are not alone.
