In all fairness, I think that quote was not meant that way. I think he was saying that because poor blacks (instead of middle-class whites) were the subject of the rumors, the rumors about them were more readily spread and believed than they would have been otherwise.

I don't necessarily agree with that point either, but I think that's what he meant.

Boy, it's a good thing the Times-Picayune didn't insinuate that those spreading the rumors were "articulate" in doing so, else that comment might seem almost racist!

And we all know the kind liberal souls in the MSM could never be racists! (FOX News excepted, of course).

/O-Chub

Crisis in the Bayou - Day 4

My God, it's worse than we feared.

Hey, as long as they've got the overall big picture truth right, who cares about the facts? Fake But Accurate has become their aspiration.

But the cannibalism, that's still true right?

Well, I confess that I believed some of the stories at the time.

I had heard how generally lawless New Orleans was reputed to be.

I heard that rescue workers had been shot at, and someone in a children's hospital called in to beg for help, saying basically that the barbarians were at the gate.
The looting, the broadcasters breaking down on the air, doctors blogging about how bad it was...

I believed the death/rape/murder stories, all of it, hook, line, and sinker.

C'mon, Ace! Don't pussy-foot around. Tell us what you really think. :-)

Just kiddin'. I agree with everything you said, and the manner in which it was expressed. As a matter of fact, I admire your restraint.

As was said in the article above this one, the MSM just keeps digging itself deeper. Of course, when ones' fundamental philosophy cannot stand the bright glare of fact, one has two choices: change ones' philosophy, or resort to verbal Legerdemain and finger-pointing to maintain the fantasy. The second choice is that of spineless cowards.

Righteous anger there Ace. Nice!

Best line:

Let's compare the responsibility and restraint shown by bloggers to that shown by the MSM. Who wins? I will be God-damned to hell before I ever put up with another MSM scolding about how "irresponsible" bloggers are in their reportage and commentary.

Well, I'm ready to give a certain amount of credit to the LA Times for doing a story on how badly the MSM screwed the pooch on this one. But the level of implicit, patronizing racism in the "narrative" concocted by the Fourth Estate is pretty spectacular. Of course, it couldn't be racist because they're, you know, liberal.

"I have a dream that one day our reporters will live in a nation where they will be judged, not by their party registration, but by the content of their stories..."

Man, is that dude full of shit. I spent quite a few hours on the phone with folks in my hometown, two hours west of New Orleans... and these people, middle-class whites, were spreading rumors like crazy about evacuees looting the local Wal-Mart and robbing the gun shops.

Rumors is rumors is rumors. And the only reason these rumors reached the tipping point was because the media--mostly white, upper middle class--spread them.

Jackasses.

The mayor and the chief of police went on national television and reported widespread baby raping and cannabalism without challenge from the msm.

I believe all the people of NO could tough it out for 48-72 hours without food before resorting to cannabalism, and the parents and good people of NO would not tolerate widespread baby raping or baby raping at all, and that NO is not filled with baby rapers -- why didn't the chief of police or mayor or msm believe these things, which are evidently true?

why didn't the chief of police or mayor or msm believe these things, which are evidently true?

What did you expect them to do? INTERROGATE SOMEONE WHO JUST LIVED THROUGH A DISASTER?

You black-hearted, soulless bastard!

Let's start calling for MSM heads.
First Sean "Deliverance" Penn.

Times-Picayune Editor Jim Amoss cited telephone breakdowns as a primary cause of reporting errors, but said the fact that most evacuees were poor African Americans also played a part.

How about using common sense? All these rumors were bullshit. How about calling people on their b.s. instead of giving them a pass instead of feeding the frenzy, even if it involves "poor African American"? The soft bigotry of low expectations -- a phrase that should be used a whole lot more.

The above was by me.

Ken,

You said "...folks in my hometown, two hours west of New Orleans... and these people, middle-class whites, were spreading rumors like crazy about evacuees looting the local Wal-Mart and robbing the gun shops. "

Now Ken, just where do you think these folks - who, as you said, were 2 hours from the mess - heard the rumors they were dutifully passing on to you? Not from the folks in the middle of NO, as there was damned little communication in or out, as the MSM mentioned in their "excuse". Could it have been - gasp - the MSM itself - that was spreading the rumors, nationwide for days on end?

You make Ace's points for him.

Cheese, I'm not disagreeing with Ace, but you're missing my point.

They weren't spreading rumors about New Orleans, they were spreading rumors about their own home towns. Middle-class white people were freaking out about bullshit rumors (and spreading them) in Opelousas and Lafayette.

Good call, Ace. As one commenter said over at Jeff Jarvis' blog, "Authenticity with passion is more than facts, and is independent of ideology." My head is stiill spinning from that one. Why are we so amazed -- and outraged, for that matter -- when the media take the ball and run with it?

Let's at least agree to call people hoisted by their own "retarded petard", something that captures that turn of phrase, like "petards" or "petarded". Have to pronounce it PEE-tards for it to work.

How dare you, sir, nitpick over whether or not these stories of baby eatin' is true. How dare you, sir. The gist fo the stories is right, that's fo' sho'. And I can tell you one thing, that baby they was eatin' in the Superdome? That wudn't no box o' Cheerios they was eatin'.

Uh, no - wait - I take that back - it was a box of Cheerios.

Ken,

My bad. Appologies offered humbly.

I read this completely differently. Reread it. Read it once more.

I still think the Times-Picayune is saying that the MSM are the rumor mongers, and their reporting errors were because they did not want t, or even think about, fact-checking a story with such emotive force - e.g. those poor, black evacuees victimized by Katrina and again by horrible racist-America. .

Reo,

Canibalism, while overblown by the media, has been good to me. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to stock my freezer in a relatively risk free manner.

I was really hoping I could tempt Geraldo and his crew to "come over for diner", but they apparently had another engagment somewhere.

Great post man! You got it right. Keep up the good work. Jeff

What's sad is so many people were willing to BELIEVE the media rumors, and worse, misinterpret certain stories in the media as proof that blacks are inferior.

I'm not cutting the msm any slack, but there are a lot of people who ought to be asking themselves questions about why they so readily believe rumors and misinterpretations, whether they're because of stupidity or by design.

Compare this story with this asshole's spin on it and the nastiness that follows.

All "NEWS" is propaganda. Fox seemed to have the most disturbing tabloid type coverage. Now we find out no sniping at helicopters. I for one never really believed it, having spent some time in rotary winged aircraft. What were they seeing tracers coming at them? I guess we should be thankfull that the news reports were not claiming that SAMs were being fired. I know if I had my family on the roof for 5 days I would be firing everything I had to attract attention, guns roman candles etc

Hubris wrote:
In all fairness, I think that quote was not meant that way.

I know what you mean, I think you might be right. But if that is what he is saying, then what he is really saying is:

"I would not believe white people are capable of this, but because the rumors were about black people, I believed it and reported it"

So he's either blaming the victims, or admitting he's a racist.

sorry that last one was me, where I quoted Hubris.

A great antidote to all the hype about looters etc. (WHICH I NEVER BELIEVED WAS ACCURATE) was a radio show on NPR, This American Life.

They did extended interviews with some people who were in the dome. One woman told a great story of gang guys all getting raincoats -- all same color -- so they could recognize each other. They protected the elderly and kids, distributed food (yes, looted, but distributed among needy). It sounded like a made-for-TV movie, but the woman sounded very credible. She said she had no respect for gang members, but looked at them completely differently. They became the police in the 'dome.

Probably available as a podcast.

Uh, this incoherent line:

"She said she had no respect for gang members, but looked at them completely differently"

was supposed to read something like,

"She had HAD no respect... but after that event in the dome, she said she looked at them quite differently."

Sorry.

That same This American Life had testimonials from a bunch of tourists who tried to walk over the bridge to Gretna, but were forced back by the sheriff and friends, who fired shots over their heads.

So they camped out on the bridge, set up a bathroom area, shared food, were taking care of the kids... and then were forced OFF the bridge by a psychotic law man.

It's a hell of a story.