Media Sat On Katrina Video For 6 Months
Media Sat On Katrina Video For 6 Months
A videotape of a briefing that occurred the day before Hurricane Katrina struck is blanketing television news. The coverage is appropriate; the tape proves that Bush and other top officials knew about the severity of the storm in advance and still were slow to respond.
What you won’t hear on TV is that the media have had this tape for six months but haven’t done anything with it. From the LA Times:
Department briefings are routinely recorded, said [Homeland Security spokesman Russ] Knocke, adding that Homeland Security does not know how Associated Press got the footage of the Aug. 28 briefing. It was also obtained that day or the day after by a network and a cable affiliate, but neither aired it, he said.
The contents of the tape are clearly newsworthy. Which media organizations obtained the tape and why wasn’t it aired?
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
The contents of the tape are clearly newsworthy. Which media organizations obtained the tape and why wasn’t it aired?
That's a rhetorical question, right, Judd? Cause I think we all know why.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:42 amBut the story has always been there. Lazy Americans gots to have they video...
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:44 am“We have to address the fact that the president has broken the law.†— Senator Russ Feingold
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:53 amI think the driving factor behind why this tape wasn't aired is simple enough... Boring teleconferences don't make good TV. Death and destruction does. There WAS a major catastrophe happening, after all. Our media doesn't have the wherewithall to actually research causes, they want to display the visceral.
Give it a day or two, and anything can get shuffled to the bottom of the pile and lost in the mix... Which in itself is a fact people can exploit / use to their advantage. If anything, THAT's your conspiracy...
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:53 amI heard this last night on Countdown, it's beyond amazing. You're right, Impeach Justices, I don't think most Americans pay attention unless it's on the video.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:55 amJudd
Come on, there is no answer. Fact is, it is getting play time now. Most of the neo-media reporting is suspect, but they sure do love a dog pile. At this point anything that puts the spotlight on Bush's incompetence is a good thing.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:55 am#4 - It's time for Cheney to shoot another old guy in the face, or tell someone to go f*ck themselves.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:56 amNBC News and MSNBC.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:58 amPaid-off news media sits on everything for 6 months or longer > lol.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:58 amBack in my old activist days I would probably shout,"and they will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes".
Nowdays, I just add this to the list of media sins that remind me that the press is brain dead and doing the bidding of the corporate Gods. We can no longer rely on the press to be a watchdog, we have to do it for ourselves. Blogs like this are how the country will be changed.
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:03 pmIt's obvious, it provided no clues about Natalee Holloway's mysterious disappearance, or the cruise ship honeymooners.
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:04 pmthat durn librul media iz at eet 'gain eh?
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:11 pmMedia Had Bush Katrina Video Six Months Ago...
Way to go, lapdog media!...
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:12 pmSince the corporate owned press in the United States hides important news items like this video tape of Bush being informed about Katrina destruction and flooding, then what other items are kept hidden and locked away in a news vault somewhere? Someday when Bush is gone, some of the Media CEOs might go to prison for their collaboration with Dubya?!
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:13 pmAgain, Bush is caught lying through his teeth. Only this time it’s on video tape! The tape shows Bush got explicit Katrina warning from Michael Brown, now former FEMA Director, nearly begging Bush and that trash, Chertoff, to do something, anything to help the citizens of New Orleans! But Bush’s expression for the ordinary American is always the same: the hell with you. And that was the result of Katrina on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Be prepare for the smell of burnt armature when the mainstream media and the Republicans try spin this one.
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:14 pmApparently the entire MSM uses the same menu:
Release video damaging to republicans - $150K
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:19 pmRelease video damaging to democrats - $10
Withhold damaging video of republicans - $100K
The only good thing that has come from the airing of the tape 6 months later is the trail of lies and deception that has clearly been pushed by Bush and his administration. The man has lied about serious actions that killed people....again. But no sex was involved so most Americans will go "ho-hum".
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:22 pmBush's popularity in the polls is so low and his credibility so impaired, one more video confirming that he does not tell the truth or showing his lack of competence is not going to make much difference. For better or worse he is President of the United States for the next three long years and does anyone really think the Democratic Party will get organized enough to take back control of either the House or the Senate in 2006?
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:25 pmBlogs like this are how the country will be changed, writes #10. Words don't matter, actions do. A grassroots Revolution is what's needed, kick the religious nuts in their collective asses and send Murdoch back to OZ where he belongs, under a rock in Adelaide then you will be able to rebuild your world. Where's the new leader? Certainly not in the Dims ranks. Launch a third party with someone who is tough, secular and has a green policy.
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:30 pmI know a third party would be preferable, but the way the Republicans and Democrats have fixed the system, they make third parties virtually impossible.
In my view, the Democrats need to purge their leadership of corporatists, and put progressives in leadership positions. Change the party from the inside, the way the Republicans did, by installing theocrats in leadership positions.
A third party, made up of people on the left, would just ensure Republican majorities, in my humble opinion.
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:44 pmHomeland Security said they obtained the video 6 months ago, as reported by the LA Times.
I repeat, "Homeland Security said..."
Bet you $10 it was first leaked this week by a Republican Senate staffer.
March 2nd, 2006 at 12:51 pm"The contents of the tape are clearly newsworthy. Which media organizations obtained the tape and why wasn’t it aired?" - Judd
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:09 pm*****Yes, but if the MSM put out the video 6 months ago, it would have deprived the whiners of another rant.
#20 : a third party was suggested two days ago by no less than Alan Greenspan (perhaps he has had some bad blood with Bush)I don't think it would help the repugs, remember Perot? The problem is that we are all running out of time, not ideas. It will take at least 20 years to undo the damage that Bush has done to America, no less. So prop up someone who has courage, not duplicity.
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:10 pmUnbelieveable. What an outrage that this "lost" tape comes up now and that news organizations sat on it. The LA Times owes its readership and the American public the names of those organizations. AP owes it to us to give a full accounting of the provenance of the tapes.
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:27 pmWe have to ask the question:
Which network and a cable affiliate?
Maybe Fox?
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:27 pmRemember, there's that pesky little unwritten rule in broadcast journalism called the "narrative". If it news doesn't fit into the "narrative" in just the right way, it won't be turned into a national headline.
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:31 pmToo many "lost tapes" and "poor intelligance" excuses, hell, even Saddam Hussein has decided to take responsibility for his actions in leadership! Things are looking increasingly bad for folks in the feurerbunker and we need to take the opportunity to take advantage of their bad situation.
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:33 pm[...] But also be mortified that the media secured the video tapes a few days after and then sat on the story for six months. [...]
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:38 pm"*****Yes, but if the MSM put out the video 6 months ago, it would have deprived the whiners of another rant.
Comment by mightyTranny the Retarded Reichwing Nazi"
This tape further proves the ineptitude of bush (which you defended at the time as being a New Orleans Governor/Mayor problem), and your ownly response is to think about how it deprived liberals of a rant.
You are one whacked out retarded b!tch.
There were THOUSANDS of americans who died yet again because of this drunken cokehead and his cock eyed gunslinging sidekick - and you're trying to crack jokes?
You are one sick fool!
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:44 pm[...] First we learn that the New York Times knew about the administration’s warrantless domestic spying way before the Presidential election and chose not to report it. Now it ends up that two unnamed networks had copies of the Katrina tape way back in August. Well, at least the President didn’t lie about a consensual relationship - then we’d all really have something to worry about. [...]
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:46 pmWho let Ryan the Angry Lib back? What a surprise. Nothing to offer but name calling.
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:51 pmis it my imagination, or does the media have a "withholding" agreement with the Busheroos? what other explanation is there? I saw we impeach them, too...
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:55 pmThis video was aired at least once soon after Katrina (I believe it appeared on CNN). I saw it and was flabbergasted, first that it didn't lead the news, then by its subsequent disappearance. Its content speaks for itself. No one else I know saw it until this resurfacing. An outrage by anyone's standards.
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:55 pmKeith Olbermann did point out last night that the media had the tape the entire time -- and he did acknowledge that that included his own organization. It was very clear from his broadcast that it wasn't until the AP reviewed this 6 month old tape that they realized what they had. This is the only broadcast outlet I watched yesterday, and it doesn't surprise me that he would be the only one to point out this fact, but at least someone did.
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:03 pm"Who let Ryan the Angry Lib back? What a surprise. Nothing to offer but name calling. Phinga Bheng"
Hehe, anyone else see the irony in this post. Psychologists say the unenlightened can only see themselves, looks we have proof of this in our midst :)
Phenga, I suppose you don't care about the dead americans, and the fact this tape further proves the reichwing sat on their hands instead of acting? Once again you 'attack' and offer nothing of value to say. Same old Phinga, accusing others of your own crime. You're definitely in good company with your fellow republicans.
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:12 pm"What you won’t hear on TV is that the media have had this tape for six months but haven’t done anything with it."
Well, I did hear it on TV. Keith Olbermann was all over this fact on last night's Countdown on MSNBC. (I saw the later edition, don't know about the first.)
On the other hand, I'm appalled to see the NY Times burying its story about the video on page 16 this morning (National edition). What's more, their story doesn't lead with the pre-Katrina warnings that were ignored, and lied about, by Bush -- the headline reads "Unaware as Levees Fell, Officials Expressed Relief" -- instead, it's about "federal and state officials" not knowing that the levees had been breached after the fact.
Phooey.
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:13 pmUnfortunately, this is maybe a two-day story. News cycle moves fast. Got missing puppies to report on...
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:13 pm#10 (et al)
And the beat goes on...La Da Dah (whatever)
Many people like myself (and most here) have got to be wondering “where’s the outrage� BushCo is being exposed daily but their deviant policies keep beating on…why? No fear.
Someone recently posted a rant about taking it to the streets with bullhorns in hand. Kinda 60’s style. That might be somewhat effective but getting enough people joining in to make a difference would be difficult at best. Protesting in public takes a lot of guts and most people don’t care enough to do so. BushCo’s policies are destructive (I’m preaching to the choir) but few see how these policies affect them personally so they don’t care enough to be more than privately vocal…if they care at all.
As much as Viet Nam is compared to Iraq there are obviously huge differences in social attitudes. The mass protests of the 60’s and subsequent sympathy for them, in my opinion, was spurred by one thing. Fear. That is- of the draft. When you, your son, boyfriend, etc. might have to unwillingly die in a bs war, enough fear is instilled to cause outrage.
The draft was the unifier that is lacking today. Most people are too distracted and divided among emotional political issues (another topic all together) to pay much attention to politics. College campuses were the hotbed of activity during the 60’s. I live near a college town and see little activity at all. Of consideration is that entertainment today doesn’t require social contact like it did in the 60’s. Then you had 3-5 channels of TV- now you have 150, the internet, cell phones, etc. From what I understand by talking to them, most students do little after classes but download music, play video games, and surf the web (mostly for porn). I’m not ripping on them for being distracted- it’s just the way it is. No fear.
I could go on and on but to get to the point- Little is going to change until the government once again fears the people. BushCo fearlessly uses fear daily. What do “they†have to be afraid of? There is no significant numbered force opposing them, they control congress, and there isn’t much social upheaval. The unions are all but broken, etc. etc.
But what might BushCo and their republican enabelers fear? I’d like to think it’s not getting re-elected but is it really? If a republican Sen. or Congressmen gets unseated what happens? He/she gets a WAY better “private sector†job. I guess what I’m saying is that things must be done to put a little fear into “the establishmentâ€. One way to do this is through exposure. Such as why TP and others are having an effect. As Sen. Daschle said:
Hate to say it but aside from internet blogs and discussions- one of the answers is the “MSMâ€. The good thing is that it looks like they are starting to roll on BushCo.
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:36 pmDo you think we do this just for something to rant about? God that is a fvcking clueless statement.
Yeah, I just love having the worst president in history, so I have something to rant about.
Do you know how stupid that sounds.
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:55 pmI keep saying this: get rid of Murdoch, send him back to OZ where he does meddle in politics there as well. He calls the shots also in the UK. The man has too much power and the Americans are too willing to give it to him via his Faux News network. Frogmarch the miserable fucker! You have to start dealing with the people responsible for disseminating false & biased news. Kick O'Reilly in the nuts and out of town, same with the other freak Hannity.
March 2nd, 2006 at 3:01 pmI am still amazed that no one will challenge or bring down this miserable regime. He is powerless, he is not up for re-election, neither is Cheney. But congress and the media keep buckling under to backroom pressure. No sanctions for the warrentless wiretaps, nothing will come of the ports fopau either. No impeachment despite ample proof of breaking the law. There are no checks and balances for the King. No one will step to the plate. The apathy of the American public is repugnant. We may have to physically revolt and take the government back to regain control of democracy.
March 2nd, 2006 at 3:39 pm“Who let Ryan the Angry Lib back? What a surprise. Nothing to offer but name calling. Phinga Bhengâ€
March 2nd, 2006 at 3:51 pmRN adds quite a bit of information with his posts, and he calls a jerk a jerk.
Apparently, you find fault with finding fault with GWB, the moron who fiddles while Rome burns -- who makes jokes about dead soldiers searching for non-existent WMDs -- who can't take time from his vacation to act upon PDBs warning of imminent attacks -- who can't leave his ranch to even feign care and concern over the flooding of an historic city, but he was able to take the time to attend a birthday party and yuk it up.
It seems to me that your charges are baseless and reflect only that you have no defense for Bush.
#38 WD
March 2nd, 2006 at 4:00 pm"Little is going to change until the government once again fears the people."
I think I read on a post here somewhere that in the early 20th century, the Bolsheviks were about 150,000 in a country of millions, yet they ruled for years until there was a revolution. It sounded pretty familiar -- do we need another revolution to oust the dangerous and powerful?
Get the torches and pitchforks ready.
Probably not...but the fear of such a thing might.
March 2nd, 2006 at 4:07 pmOuternet:
You are absolutely right. Start by kicking out the easiest leg of the stool. The corrupt media.
Ted Rall has a thing going where he is taking donations for a legal fund to sue the c*nt Coulter for slander and libel. He's up to $21,000 -
Quote frome his site:
"Seriously, though, the Sue Ann Coulter Pledge Drive is kicking serious ass. We're over $21,000! In other words, we're almost there--but we need more to do this job right. If standing up against slander and libel by right-wing nutjobs doesn't make you pry open your wallet, consider the look on Coulter's face when she meets my process server!"
Fuck yeah!
First you knock her down, then, with precedent, you start knocking down o'lielly, the drug addled vulgar pigboy, hannity, then the lesser savage wiener's, the glenn becks and more of the insignificants.
This is a worthy project for a big blog to take on. Micro donations to finally put the STFU on some of the worst people in the world.
RYAN NEAT ROCKS!
March 2nd, 2006 at 4:38 pmOops, sorry bout the messed up link, but it does go where it's supposed to.
March 2nd, 2006 at 4:41 pmThis tape was held for election reasons. GOP member leaked it to the press (maybe a few different members) and advised to hold on for election year. They need to separate themselves from a drizzling 34% approval rating. Lots more of these bombs will be dropped as the GOP tries to stop it's implosion.
March 2nd, 2006 at 5:58 pmLike each and every republican, our media needs to be replaced. None of them can be trusted. They're all on the take. ALL OF THEM.
March 2nd, 2006 at 6:38 pm[...] Two related stories from Think Progress and Media Matters really emit a warm feeling for the Fourth Estate. [...]
March 2nd, 2006 at 8:04 pm