"I have heard that 30000 people have read this blog, but this can neither be confirmed or deined as such i felt like telling you anyway" (read the rant and you will understand this)
The following rant, as with my whole blog IS my point of view. You may agree or disagree that is your choice. It is not intended to be used a staement of fact, its an opinion gleamed from reading and watching news brodcast, unless less stated figures are from my rather poor memory of events that may have unfolded some years ago. As i say again none of this is to be taken as fact, in a rant nothing is reliable. lol. If you notice any typos, good for you you passed the test. now try and pass the second test..keep it to yourself ;)
Twin Towers
Tsunami
Katrina
These are some of the major stories that had ramifications around the world, and yet as with all big stories the one thing I note is that the first information should be disregarded. It is normally wrong, or off the mark by a large margin. Sometimes they create a flawed sense of scale, in fact most of the time. When the tsunami hit over the Christmas season and the toll hit 3000 the world looked at it and said ok 3000, its bad but not that bad. Initial press reports in the US stated that the toll "could top 10000" and major governments who utilize the press for information just like we do were slow to act, The US and the E.U took their time, Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia moved with speed that surprised many. Money, troops and other Aid were sent even before the "great powers" realized the full scale of the disaster. Ultimately from the press estimating a death toll of 3000 they swung the other way and said 600k or 700k in the end the death toll was around 150 000(a frightening enough number) people dead as reported by Manchester online.
When those planes crashed into those twin towers and the world released a collective "oh my god" we all assumed the worst..30000 people dead, at least. The press speculated widely as to the numbers of dead, the press wildly stated (from one news room to almost all the broadcast) that more then 5 planes had crashed around the states, that the white house had been hit.
Actual death toll 2752 as at 31 October 2003 more then a year later. Almost 3000 people dead for nothing. still although very high its about 10% of the figure that was thrown about during the week following the disaster.
Katrina- This is my favorite example of how poor leadership, a “sell” orientated press can affect people in ways that surprised everyone.
No one knew the exact path of the hurricane, no one knew if it was really going to be a great big storm or a little on, the city was evacuated. People refused to leave; some because they did not have a way out, a place to go while others because they felt secure in their own homes. That first day when the levees broke and the city was flooding, when people were trapped on roofs and up trees, when thousands we squeezed in the stadium, we saw a failure to lead, from the ground up. The mayor broke down and wept , he said that thousands would die before the next morning, that the federal government was not doing anything to help. That people were on their own. Over the next few days, claims that hundreds had died in the stadium, that many people were raped, that children were raped. That police were being attacked by armed gangs numbering the hundreds caused even more widespread panic. almost 1/3 of the police force abandoned its post. Police were seen looting, the mayor was on the air ranting at the government both federal and state. even Oprah was told about children being raped, about people being slaughtered by gangs. People who heard about these things from other people went into a state of panic, a state of siege if you will. IF gangs are coming my way, I could do one of two things fight or run. Those that chose to stay entered an abnormal state of paranoia. Imagine if you will that all law is gone, that your entire environment has been destroyed, your home half submerged under water, your family friends scattered most probably one of the tens of thousands supposedly dead. Then you are told that gangs are heading your way to kill you rape your children. What would you do? You would crawl down into your flooded house get your gun and shoot anything that comes near your house even people trying to help you, post traumatic stress plus a healthy amount of paranoia induced by a press feeding of a panicked leader is a great recipe for disaster. The mayors original estimate 30000-40000 dead, the state had feared and projected 10000 the ultimate death toll in New Orleans was 1193 according to Cnn.
My point is this, first reports should never be believed. In times of crisis strong leaders who reassure people make a difference, TLOML said it well "You don’t see Musharraf Crying" and that’s true maybe he is an insensitive SOB, I don’t think so I like to believe that he knows there is a time for crying and a time for strength.
My other point is that the media, all around the world need to sell newspapers, they need to sell ad time for the TV stations, they need the scoop the angle that no one else has. So you potential could get a front page of a black bag trash bag that had a body in it, or you get a banner headline 30000 feared dead in New Orleans, and when you read the articles you get even less information that is fact then if you read my blog. On the news you may have heared (or may one day hear) things like this "I haven’t seen any yet but I am told by police that there are hundreds of bodies floating in the city" "we understand from people who were inside at the time that there are gangs raping children as yet we are unable to confirm or refute this rumor " "We have had reports that the white house has been hit" " uh bob I am outside the white house now and I can confirm that it has not I repeat has not been hit although we have been evacuated" "thanks peter for that, well folks we have it confirmed that 2 planes have crashed into the twin towers, one into the pentagon, one in Pennsylvania and unconfirmed reports of a strike on the white house"
Panic, disaster, death, all these things sell. That’s why we don’t have a good news only report, cause no one would watch it or so they believe. Ultimately we must decide what to believe, just like governments who use the press for information we need to sift through reports and gleam the truth, unlike us however governments feed the beast. The press as a holy truthful institution is gone (did it ever exist?), its job is to SELL the news, not as they claim PROVIDE it. Governments and people like us should start to realize this. All news ventures be they papers, tv or even online are affected by parameters outside or view, be they government regulations and controls, a liberal publishing policy or a conservative one, and of course a financial one. Looking at the evloution of THE NEW PAPER will show how a solid news driven afternoon paper has turned around to become a sensationalist tabloid, which is in the black financially.
Don’t believe everything you read...in the papers.
