Saturday, September 10, 2005
Katrina throws up communications issues
Viewing CNN and BBC reports on the Katrina disaster raises many communications issues.
It was really appalling to see President Bush posing for ‘photo-ops’ in the disaster zone a couple of days after the catastrophe. Either he wasn’t briefed about the scale of the tragedy or he was simply insensitive to the pain and suffering all around.
Several questions haunt one amidst the welter of reports. What were his media advisors doing? Was there a racial angle to the response of the official machinery? Is there merit in assuming that the attitude of the entire establishment would have been different had a large proportion of the affected population not been Blacks?
More shocking are the subtle efforts of CNN in protecting – and even promoting -- the official machinery. One could understand CNN’s blatant slant in promoting American interests during the Iraq war. But isn’t it possible to be more objective while reporting on the sufferings of your own people?
It was really appalling to see President Bush posing for ‘photo-ops’ in the disaster zone a couple of days after the catastrophe. Either he wasn’t briefed about the scale of the tragedy or he was simply insensitive to the pain and suffering all around.
Several questions haunt one amidst the welter of reports. What were his media advisors doing? Was there a racial angle to the response of the official machinery? Is there merit in assuming that the attitude of the entire establishment would have been different had a large proportion of the affected population not been Blacks?
More shocking are the subtle efforts of CNN in protecting – and even promoting -- the official machinery. One could understand CNN’s blatant slant in promoting American interests during the Iraq war. But isn’t it possible to be more objective while reporting on the sufferings of your own people?
