Monday, July 11, 2005
Much "Adennis" About Nothing?
I'm happy to see that the south has survived Hurricane Dennis with what appears to be very minimal loss of life (as I write this, there has been one confirmed fatality - a man who stepped on a downed power line).
And, I'm pleased that, although there was some damage - especially flooding - there was little of the catastrophic damage that we saw during last year's Florida hurricanes.
Now, with that said...let's talk about the news media.
Did they go just a little over the top? Perhaps a lot over the top?
CNN brought top anchors Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien to Atlanta to go wall-to-wall on the hurricane. Thank goodness Miles explained to us early on that CNN would likely "lose our satellite feeds several times in the upcoming hours."
Hey, CNN even gave their coverage a name...calling themselves your Hurricane Headquarters.
Did Anderson Cooper really need to stand out in the rain and wind...especially when he started talking about how the storm was "not as bad as it could have been?"
Didn't Rick Sanchez look a little silly reporting over a videophone? Hey, Rick...this isn't Afghanistan. It's Alabama. (insert punch line here)
The TV cable news outlets were building this thing up like it was going to be the end of the world...sort of the "Perfect Storm" of hurricanes. They were doing their best to scare the Hell out of people. In many ways, they succeeded.
And, what did we end up with? A pretty decent storm...and video of people drinking beer and playing pool volleyball in the floodwaters!
Folks, look at it this way. At least seven times as many people died in homicides in Chicago over the weekend as died in the hurricane.
Hey, CNN...get up here! We've got a story for you!
And, I'm pleased that, although there was some damage - especially flooding - there was little of the catastrophic damage that we saw during last year's Florida hurricanes.
Now, with that said...let's talk about the news media.
Did they go just a little over the top? Perhaps a lot over the top?
CNN brought top anchors Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien to Atlanta to go wall-to-wall on the hurricane. Thank goodness Miles explained to us early on that CNN would likely "lose our satellite feeds several times in the upcoming hours."
Hey, CNN even gave their coverage a name...calling themselves your Hurricane Headquarters.
Did Anderson Cooper really need to stand out in the rain and wind...especially when he started talking about how the storm was "not as bad as it could have been?"
Didn't Rick Sanchez look a little silly reporting over a videophone? Hey, Rick...this isn't Afghanistan. It's Alabama. (insert punch line here)
The TV cable news outlets were building this thing up like it was going to be the end of the world...sort of the "Perfect Storm" of hurricanes. They were doing their best to scare the Hell out of people. In many ways, they succeeded.
And, what did we end up with? A pretty decent storm...and video of people drinking beer and playing pool volleyball in the floodwaters!
Folks, look at it this way. At least seven times as many people died in homicides in Chicago over the weekend as died in the hurricane.
Hey, CNN...get up here! We've got a story for you!
Comments:
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Steve,
CNN's "Hurricane One" was an absolute joke. It was completely uneccessary, was poor quality, and you couldn't really see any of the damage in the background. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come from CNN and how they're going to cover each and every hurricane this season.
Ryan
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CNN's "Hurricane One" was an absolute joke. It was completely uneccessary, was poor quality, and you couldn't really see any of the damage in the background. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come from CNN and how they're going to cover each and every hurricane this season.
Ryan
# posted by 
: 10:27 AM
: 10:27 AM << Home
