Maynard Institute archives

“If Anyone Rioted, It Was the Media”

by richard0471

House’s Katrina Report Knocks Early Coverage

The House Republicans’ blistering report (PDF) last week on the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina also skewers the news media, saying, “it’s clear accurate reporting was among Katrina’s many victims. If anyone rioted, it was the media.”

The storm made landfall on Aug. 29, and wreaked devastation on New Orleans, other parts of Louisiana and on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. “A Failure of Initiative,” on the preparation for and response to Katrina, was issued by a committee of 11 Republicans who echoed what the news media had reported about their own mistakes. Those media reports, however, lacked a government imprimatur.

[Added Feb. 23: The White House “Lessons Learned” report (PDF) on Katrina, issued Thursday, also included criticism of the coverage. “The media, operating 24/7, gathered and aired uncorroborated information which interfered with ongoing emergency response efforts,” it said, adding in a footnote: “In testimony before the House Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation and Response to Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Phil Parr, Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer, FEMA, and Mr. Terry Ebert, Director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security, of the City of New Orleans, both testified that exaggerated media reports impeded rescue efforts (December 14, 2005).”]

“According to officials on the ground in New Orleans interviewed by Select Committee staff, and subsequent media reports, erroneous or exaggerated reporting of conditions in New Orleans created anxiety and fear among those sheltering at the Superdome and Convention Center, delayed some critical elements of the response effort, and discouraged some residents in dry neighborhoods from evacuating the city,” the House report said.

“Officials interviewed by Select Committee staff said some of the media reporting made the crowds in the Superdome anxious and scared away truck drivers carrying critical commodities; these same officials indicated some residents of the city in areas not flooded were reluctant to evacuate because of these reports, choosing instead to stay behind to protect their belongings.”

Reporters and editors said in their defense that many of the misstatements came from government officials, and that the chaotic situation made it difficult, if not impossible, to verify what authorities told them. The committee appeared to acknowledge this, saying:

“Government at all levels lost credibility due to inaccurate or unsubstantiated public statements made by officials regarding law and order, levee breaches, and overall response efforts.”

But, the report scolded, “The media must share some of the blame here. The Select Committee agrees the media can and should help serve as the public’s ‘first informer’ after disasters.

“In the 21st century, Americans depend on timely and accurate reporting, especially during times of crisis. But it’s clear accurate reporting was among Katrina’s many victims. If anyone rioted, it was the media. Many stories of rape, murder, and general lawlessness were at best unsubstantiated, at worst simply false. And that’s too bad, because this storm needed no exaggeration.

“As discussed in our report, widely-distributed uncorroborated rumors caused resources to be deployed, and important time and energy wasted, chasing down the imaginary. Already traumatized people in the Superdome and elsewhere, listening to their transistor radios, were further panicked.”

The report said at another point: “The Select Committee does not mean to suggest the media is solely responsible for responders’ lack of situational awareness, or the destruction of communications infrastructure that thrust television into the role of first informer for the military as well as the general public. Nor is the media solely responsible for reporting comments from sources they believed to be credible – especially top officials.

“The Select Committee does, however, believe such circumstances make accurate reporting, especially in the period immediately after the storm, all the more important. Skepticism and fact-checking are easier when the sea is calm, but more vital when it is not.”

Mike McQueen to Join AP in New Orleans

Mike McQueen, managing editor of Knight Ridder’s Macon (Ga.) Telegraph, is returning to the Associated Press as assistant bureau chief in New Orleans, the Telegraph and the AP announced separately Tuesday. One reason, McQueen told Journal-isms today, was that he “couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be near the center of the action for a story that will continue for years and years.”

“It’s an important job with key administrative responsibilities,” McQueen continued. “I will market the AP wire to some of the 49 newspapers and 100 broadcast stations in Louisiana and Mississippi. I will be heavily involved in the financial operation of the bureau. Therefore, I will pick up some business-side skills I don’t have now. Further, New Orleans, even damaged, is a world-class city in which to live, work and play. In addition to the marketing and financial responsibilities, there will be three news editors reporting to me: A news editor based in New Orleans, who also reports to the national desk in New York and who handles [only] hurricane-related copy; a news editor in New Orleans and a news editor in Jackson, Mississippi.”

McQueen added that his job as managing editor made it difficult for his wife, Glenda, “who is a public affairs PR person (she’s worked for the school system in Miami and the state transportation dept in Fla.), to get a job that doesn’t pose a conflict in a smaller town such as Macon. She was a finalist for a job as spokesperson for the school system here and didn’t get it. One deputy superintendent told me afterwards that they worried about whether she would have divided loyalties – to me as a husband and ME and to the school system.”

The news cooperative’s choice of McQueen “is reflective of AP’s commitment to excel in our news coverage of Louisiana and Mississippi during the Katrina/Rita aftermath and in handling our member and news and business relationships in two states,” said a note from Hank Ackerman, New Orleans bureau chief. He went on to list McQueen’s experience:

“After graduation from Florida State University, he joined the Tallahassee Democrat as a reporter in 1977. After a reporting stint at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, he joined AP and rose to become AP’s Tallahassee correspondent until joining The Miami Herald in 1984.

“McQueen was an urban affairs reporter for The Miami Herald before being named to USA Today’s national ‘hit-team’ for in depth reporting and spot features in 1987. He served two years as Gannett News Service bureau chief in Tallahassee. He returned to the Miami Herald during the 1990s, with one year out as a co-owner for a corporate lobbying and newsletter firm. He was Day City Editor of the Herald before becoming ME at the Macon Telegraph.”

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Shani Davis Win Elevates Olympic Race Debate

The Winter Olympics spawned protests by two Chicago-based columnists about media coverage of U.S. speedskater Shani Davis, who became the first African American to win an individual gold medal in the winter games, controversy over remarks by anchor Bryant Gumbel on HBO that the games have “a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention,” and comments by at least two other columnists — one a Latina and the other Asian American — on the low representation by those groups.

“Most white people aren’t going to understand black people like Cherie Davis, the mother of U.S. speedskater Shani Davis,” began a column by Mary Mitchell on Tuesday in the Chicago Sun-Times. “All last week, Cherie Davis was vilified in the media as a ‘controlling’ and ‘overly protective’ mother who is messing up her son’s chances for turning Olympic gold into good ol’ American greenback. In fact, if the negative media drumbeat continues, despite breaking an incredible barrier, Davis could wind up a footnote in Olympic history.”

“No one will ever be able to take away the history Davis made Saturday in Turin, Italy,” Roland S. Martin wrote Monday in the Chicago Defender, using the “n” word three times. “But maybe his critics should check their own selfish interests and stop crucifying the guy. He represented America well, and did what media darlings Michelle Kwan and Bode Miller couldn’t do – bring the gold home.

Gumbel, in a commentary for an HBO “Real Sports” episode that debuted Feb. 7, before Davis won his medal, said: “Laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention . . . so if only to hasten the arrival of the day they’re done and we can move on to March Madness, for God’s sake, let the Games begin.”

The comments drew “a cold response,” as The State in Columbia, S.C., noted last weekend.

Meanwhile, on her Latina Lista blog, Marisa Trevino asked in a headline, “Are Latinos Not Interested in the Winter Olympics?” She said, “the bottom line is Latinos are not sharing in the thrills and heartaches of our athletes. According to Nielsen ratings for the week of Feb. 6-12, instead of tuning into the Olympics, we’d rather watch repeats of the animated sitcom the Family Guy.” She discussed the three Latinos on the U.S. team: Maria Garcia, Derek Parra and Jennifer Rodriguez.

In the Dallas Morning News Thursday, columnist Esther Wu, who is also national president of the Asian American Journalists Association, wrote that the saga of Kwan, who bowed out of the games, “may have a deeper significance to many Asian-Americans.

“Ms. Kwan is a rare commodity. She is an Asian-American sports role model. And there are precious few of them,” Wu wrote.

“Need proof? Besides Kristi Yamaguchi, Amy Chow and Apolo Anton Ohno, try naming two other Asian-Americans who hold Olympic gold medals.

“Sports simply has not been a priority among many Asian-American families. The reason may be fairly simple: The foundation just isn’t there.”

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Magazine Says Chain Pulled “Negroes for Sale” Issue

The Sports Authority retail stores ordered copies of a multicultural magazine destroyed whose cover featured a 1784 sign advertising “NEGROES FOR SALE” after customers complained, the magazine said in a news release.

The publication, the Green Magazine, has as its slogan “Golf beyond the links,” saying it “represents the good life well lived for people of every color.” Jawn Bramble, a marketing and sales assistant at the New York-based publication, told Journal-isms today it has a circulation of 150,000, is sold in such stores as B. Dalton Bookseller, Modell’s Sporting Goods, Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Books-A-Million, and targets key markets such as New York, Washington, Chicago, Detroit and California. It celebrates its second anniversary in June.

“The Green Magazine recently learned that the management of the Sports Authority retail stores issued a nationwide directive to destroy all copies of the February/March issues because of customer complaints about the cover image,” the news release, circulated Monday by e-mail, said. “The issue, which celebrates African American and Women’s history, has a cover image of a 1784 sign advertising ‘NEGROES FOR SALE.’

“An Arizona-based Sports Authority employee, who noticed the magazine because of the email from his superiors, contacted the TGM offices to say that the image was ‘just rude to be on the cover of a golf magazine.'”

Liz Brady of Integrated Corporate Relations, which handles public relations for the retailer, said today she had not heard of the incident. She said tonight she was unable to contact Sports Authority officials.

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The Oprah Business Model: More Than Money

No one dared to imagine that Oprah Winfrey would take the time to attend a class at Harvard Business School that had been studying her as a business model, but she did, Martha Lagace, senior editor of the school’s Working Knowledge wrote Monday.

“The students all did double takes when they saw Oprah sitting at the back of the classroom,” Professor Nancy Koehn is quoted as saying. “I thought they would be a little nervous. But they were fantastic in each class I taught.”

“Winfrey took the floor for half an hour to speak informally and address specific questions that the students had raised about her company,” Lagace wrote.

“Winfrey said,

‘If you only desire to make money, you can do that. Obviously, everybody in here is going to make money. Everybody in here is going to have a level of financial success that most people in the world will not know. But what I will tell you – and I know this for sure too – that the money only lasts for a while in terms of making you feel great about yourself. In the beginning, the money is to get nice things. And once you’ve gotten those nice things, I think some of the most unhappy people I know are the people who’ve acquired all the things and now they feel like, “What else is there?” What else is there? What else is there? And that feeling of “what else is there” is the calling – is the calling trying to say to you [that] there is more than this. There is more than this.’

“It was just a great message. And the students heard it.”

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Hampton J-Program Targets Poor Grammar, Spelling

Sixty-seven students are enrolled in the Academy of Writing Excellence at Hampton University, Dionne Walker wrote today for the Associated Press. “They meet for writing labs, complete special writing assignments, and get one-on-one mentoring sessions with local journalists and opportunities to go on school-sponsored field trips.

“Troubled by students with high grades but poor grammar and spelling, journalism administrators at historically black Hampton have launched a writing academy to improve the skills of the next generation of minority reporters.

“‘It is for the student who wants to go above and beyond,’ said Will Sutton, head of the program in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.

“Dean Tony Brown, a former television commentator, created the program in response to entrance exams that showed students still struggled with the basic mechanics of English.”

As reported Feb. 1, Kenneth Lowe, president and CEO of the E.W. Scripps Co., gave $50,000 to the school on Jan. 31, to be split between the school’s scholarship fund and students in the academy.

Meanwhile, the school announced 12 $1,000 fellowships for journalism and communications professors to participate in a journalism and ethics forum at the school on April 3. The fellowships, for journalism or communications professors at historically black colleges and universities, are funded by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

“At the conclusion of the forum, fellows are expected to begin: 1] Developing an undergraduate study of media ethics curriculum for use at other journalism and communication schools, and 2] conducting research and submit scholarly and/or journalistic articles related to media ethics for publication in trade and/or peer-reviewed journals,” a notice from Wayne Dawkins, who is teaching at the school, said.

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Short Takes

  • The National Association of Hispanic Journalists raised more than $170,000 at its scholarship banquet in New York on Feb. 16, the association announced Tuesday.
  • Jerry Mitchell of the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss., who revealed elements of the murders of three civil rights activists in 1964, was among the winners of the George Polk awards. The revelation led to the conviction of the mastermind behind the plot. Chicago Tribune reporter Cam Simpson and photographer José More won for a two-part series on the massacre of 12 Nepalese men in Iraq that revealed a human trafficking business with links to a subsidiary of Halliburton, Long Island University announced on Monday.
  • “Getting pregnant was not part of Elizabeth Vargas‘ career plan,” television critic Gail Shister wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Feb. 15. “‘This was about as unplanned as it gets,’ says Vargas, coanchor of ABC World News Tonight. . . . ‘Truth be told, I was a little nervous about telling anybody,’ Vargas says. She had planned to inform ABC around mid-February, she says, but when Woodruff was seriously injured in a roadside bomb blast in Iraq on Jan. 29, she told her bosses immediately that she was with child,” Shister continued.
  • Nikki G. Bannister, editor in chief of the Southern Digest at Southern University, was named Student Journalist of the Year last weekend at the Southeast Journalism Conference in Atlanta.
  • “Frustrated by the lack of television coverage of the genocide in Darfur, I used a recent column to announce a pledge drive to sponsor a trip by Bill O’Reilly to Darfur,” Nicholas D. Kristof wrote Tuesday in the New York Times. “I was deluged by 6,675 pledges, averaging a bit more than $100. The grand total was $727,568, so Mr. O’Reilly will be able to fly first class with the very best satellite phones and fill his water bottles with San Pelegrino. Unfortunately, Mr. O’Reilly doesn’t seem eager to go.”
  • A clash in Washington between big phone companies and giant cable providers might silence . . . cable access staples such as the Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping and the Black Israelites,” Michael Clancy wrote Tuesday in am New York. “Nationwide, some 1.2 million volunteers and 250,000 community groups who produce the grassroots programming could be blacked out.”
  • “These days, girls in Hispanic/white families are more likely to be identified as Hispanic. But boys are more likely to be identified as white,” columnist Ralph De La Cruz wrote Tuesday in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “And the higher the socio-economic status, the more likely that parents are to identify their children as white. . . .That’s the thing about South Florida diversity,” he said after citing a few more examples. “It’s rarely simply a black and white thing.”
  • Harris Faulkner, former anchor in the Twin Cities who worked briefly as a correspondent and substitute host on the syndicated “A Current Affair,” is now anchoring at Fox News, based in New York. The network profiled her in its “Fox Fan” series.
  • “He is one of the best-known newspaper designers in the world. And on this blustery day, surrounded by staffers from the Wall Street Journal, Mario Garcia is fighting another skirmish in the war to save a dying newspaper industry,” Eric Deggans wrote Monday in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. “‘It’s basically a rethinking . . . (according to) how people receive information today,’ Garcia said later, his Cuban accent flavoring his words.”
  • “The first private pan-African multimedia news agency was launched in the Senegalese capital Dakar, the newly formed Agence de Presse Africaine (African News Agency), or APA, said on Monday,” Reuters reported today. “The agency will have its headquarters in Dakar as well as 11 regional bureaus in capitals across the continent.”
  • Nielsen Media Research, the TV ratings company, announced last week that a series of radio vignettes that recognize African American contributions to television would air in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington from Feb. 14 to 28. The spots are based in part on facts in Donald Bogleâ??s book, “Prime Time Blues: African-Americans in Network Television,” Nielsen said.

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