MSM so incredibly wrong on New Orleans

Sending this one back to the top since it appears that it is getting some traction in other places. Originally published on 18 Dec 2005.

If you read my site, well, you are in a very small minority but you also are aware of how little regard I had for mainstream media reports of Katrina. Among the many outrages were the reports of crimes and deaths that simply didn’t happen.

The LA Times now reports that the deaths in N.O. were not disproportionate among the poor. The storm, and the response, did not discriminate.

Add this to the fact that black folks died in proportionally smaller numbers than whites. Quick stats are that black folks comprised 67% of the population but represented 59% of those who passed. White folks comprised 28% of the population but represented 36% of the deaths.

Everything you read about Katrina was wrong, and was, sorry, racist. An enormous amount of PR damage was done to the US, and race tensions were fanned without any factual basis. Will the MSM address this?

Update: welcome Instapundit and Ed Driscoll readers!

Update: According to this, the median income for African-Americans is higher than the median income in Sweden.

Update: Via Memeorandum, it appears that others are finally picking up on this.

Comments

[Jim Treacher]

Somebody needs to read that LA Times story to Kanye West.

[Jay]

Know how those people will react? "Oh well that's not really relevant. Bush still let people drown!!!"

[Mister Snitch!]

"Imagine being an empirical, free-market thinker in a liberal town."

Well, I'm a conservative/libertarian in Hudson County, New Jersey. You have my sympathy, but you got nothin' on me.

[clarkstooksbury]

I can't help but noticing that in a post that is an attack on th"MSM" you don't bother to cite, or link to, any specific "MSM" source that was inaccurate; but you do link to "MSM" sources that debunk inaccurate reports.

[Matt S]

Hi clarkstooksbury, I appreciate your point. I should have put a few of the more egregious examples together but most folks will have little trouble remembering the tone of the reportage.

The first that comes to mind is the Economist cover exclaiming "The Shaming of America"...and I am quite a fan of the Economist generally.

[ex-democrat]

matt - wrt to the name of your blog: you're not ;-)

[Eg]

'Will the MSM address this?'

Only if they can report blood flowing in the streets as a result.

...and we all know well where that leads.

[Seixon]

"George Bush hates black people"

Yeah... apparently he hates white people too. Who knew?

[BigMediaBlog]

Well... given the large number of supposed tall tales (three separate examples: http://katrinacoverage.com/2005/09/05/tourists-in-the-superdome.html ), I'd be a bit surprised to find out that most of them were false. In fact, downplaying all those accounts ( http://katrinacoverage.com/tag/quell-your-fears-citizen/ ) would seem to be in (almost) everyone's best interest, no? Of course, it's best to keep an open mind and investigate each alleged incident rather than fit preliminary information to one's agenda.

Note also that the St. Gabriel impromptu morgue has a few issues ( http://katrinacoverage.com/2005/11/14/unanswered-stuff-at-the-st-gabriel-morgue.html ). A mortician there was quoted in a newspaper as being surprised by the Katrina deaths, but he refused ( http://katrinacoverage.com/2005/09/27/mortician-contradicts-reports-downplaying-crime-part-2.html ) to give me more information or a body count of those murdered. And, look who's handling the body count: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/FEMA_outsources_Katrina_body_count_to_firm_implicated_in_bodydumping_scan_0913.html

[Brett_McS]

We aussies have just experienced the same bullsh*t from the MSM with respect to the "race" riots in Sydney. What a disgrace the MSM is.

[Matt S]

Hi Brett, you know, that story bubbled up in the states a bit but it smelled fishy. I really didn't know what to think...

[Brett_McS]

Hi Matt,
Tim Blair and Belmont Club have been on top of it. I live in Newcastle (about 100 miles north of Sydney). The "race" in consideration are the Lebonese.
A key point however, is that Maronite and Christian Lebonese have been a successful and accepted ethnic group in Australia for more than half a century (hardly an ethnic group anymore, as they are completely integrated), but a segment of more recent arrivals (Muslim Lebonese) have wanted to carry on their bully-boy tactics from Lebanon - especially against the non-Muslim Lebs, but also against white folk.
This would itself not be a problem, merely a policing issue, but the Premier of the state has told the police to take a softly-softly PC approach to these people. We surmise (I think correctly) that this is because the Premier's electorate is the population centre for Muslim Lebonese in Sydney. (The State Premier has to first be elected to Parliament - there is no separate election as per your Governor elections).
So, the lack of proper police action has resulted, naturally, in people being frustrated, and some nazi types took advantage of what was otherwise a peaceful gathering in Cronulla to stir up a bunch of drunks. Note, however, no one was hurt at this gathering, which were described as "riots", but were more accurately characterized as "scuffles". Anyway, I could go on even longer, but I won't now.
Cheers.

[Jack Tanner]

And racist in every way possible but so true to the elitist faux liberal mindset. Condescending to blacks, antagonistic towards whites and at the same time exuding their own elitist superiority. If only the masses could be more like media talking heads then life would be peachy but the brunch at The Escadrille would be so crowded!

[AyUaxe]

Thanks for getting a key truth out. I'm one of the many white middle class folks who got flooded out by the levee breaks--no flooding or significant damage in my very mixed neighborhood, Broadmoor, until the levees caved. My neighbors are white, asian, a couple of south americans, but like most of the city, majority african american. BTW, truth seems to be more seriously impaired than you might think--have spoken to three credible persons who had the misfortune to end up at the Superdome who confirmed that it was worse, more violent, and more gang controlled than was reported and particularly moreso than current city administration will ever admit. They'll televise some wacko falsify under oath about "boom boom mistah", but no MSM will ever honestly report objective truth. Not good enough to beat out Fear Factor in the ratings. Also BTW, we're rebuilding and NO will carry on as the city that care forgot, in spite of all government. If you've ever been to Mardi Gras, you know we know how to do peaceful, joyous anarchy right, Dawlin!

[sac]

I agree the MSM media was way off base in the initial coverage of Katrina. I disagree that it was some kind of liberal bias or agenda. In fact, what I remember most about the misreporting of the supposed violence in the Superdome and the shooting at the helicopter was the ranting from right-wing talk radio and blogs about how black people can't keep it together in a crisis.

Also, I remember reading about the misreporting first on sites like Media Watch, which are typically thougth of as liberal.

I'm not here to say conservative=bad, liberal=good. I just don't think you can pin down an overall bias in the media. Some sources lean left, others right, others are about as balanced as is possible. The proof in this is that camps from both sides contiuously complain about the supposed left or right wing bias in the media. How can both sides be right? Because they are, depending on where they choose to shine their spotlight on that day.

[sac]

Forgot to mention that yes, the media has played up the impact on the black community in particular, mostly I think because areas like the 9th Ward were a) in New Orleans which is the most prominent city affected by Katrina, and b) it was completely devastated, as far as I know. Other areas were also similarly affected, but, for better or worse, are not as newsworthy as New Orleans, a city that has had a profound impact on the US.

[sac]

This was the kind of thing I was referring to:
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000129.html

[Mike]

The media reports all hell breaking out in NO. Emergency services have to wait for police and NG units to pacify (2-3 days to mobilize). In the meantime lives are lost and the blame totally pinned on local, state and federal officials. Amazing. The media does the equivalent of yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. Then pats itself on the back for its quality reporting.
Isn't there some way to quantify the damage those idiots do in order to make them civilly or criminally liable?
If any one of us were responsible for such a thing we'd be in jail and/or - litigiously - someone's indentured servant for the rest of our lives.