de-bunking katrina urban legend

in the wake of hurricane katrina, the MSM was pretty happy with its coverage of the aftermath including a 're-discovery' of race and poverty. however, it soon became apparent that the media reported exaggerated claims of deaths, crimes and environmental impact. (nevertheless, spike lee still promises his sensationalist take)

given some time and perspective, several media outlets re-evaluate the situation surrounding hurricane katrina.

libertarian reason magazine examines several of the urban legends reported as fact by the MSM. an AP account of a helicopter being fired upon painted a picture of anarchy. upon contacting every organization with helicopters operating during katrina (including the coast guard which saved 33,000 people--terrible government response...), no credible report of a helicopter under attack was found.

reason continues to dispel myths such as 7 year old rape victims and piles of dead bodies in the superdome/convention center

From a journalistic point of view, the root causes of the bogus reports were largely the same: The communication breakdown without and especially within New Orleans created an information vacuum in which wild oral rumor thrived. Reporters failed to exercise enough skepticism in passing along secondhand testimony from victims (who often just parroted what they picked up from the rumor mill), and they were far too eager to broadcast as fact apocalyptic statements from government officials—such as Mayor Ray Nagin’s prediction of 10,000 Katrina-related deaths (there were less than 900 in New Orleans at press time) and Police Superintendent Edwin Compass’ reference on The Oprah Winfrey Show to “little babies getting raped”—without factoring in discounts for incompetence and ulterior motives.

with the benefit of time and perspective, reason concludes

At the same time, it is plausible that the exaggerations helped make the outside response quicker than it otherwise would have been, potentially saving lives. As with many details of this natural and manmade disaster, we may never know.

But in the meantime, truth became a casualty, news organizations that were patting their own backs in early September were publishing protracted mea culpas by the end of the month, and reputation of a great American city has been, at least to some degree, unfairly tarnished.

the unskeptical media envisioning a sensational story partially bares the blame

¶ - nitish @ 9:16 AM