Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Will the Reporters Sustain Their Outrage?
That's the question Sydney H. Schanberg asks in an article in the Village Voice. Schanberg writes: "Indeed, one reason the Katrina coverage stood out was that it was so honest and clear about government's failure. Shocked by the human wreckage, reporters put aside their usual deference and politesse when interviewing the officials responsible. Emotion and even anger at officialdom were heard in their voices as they talked of the victims whose fate had been disregarded.
Will the reporters sustain their outrage? Will they reclaim the aggressive portion of their historical role? (Reminder to critics of bold reporting: "Aggressive" is not synonymous with "hostile" or "insulting.") Will the reporters' nervous corporate bosses pass the word to them to cool it? I hope not. But even if such instructions are given, reporters will know that what they saw and lived through in New Orleans and elsewhere on the coast wasn't a one-time event or an exception to the rule. Our national government has more and more become a Potemkin village, a Hollywood set where the houses look welcoming and the people speak with noble words, but it's mostly a facade to distract us from the hollowness of those we elected.
The people of the Bush administration are also shocked, not by their own fecklessness, but by the knowledge that so many Americans witnessed their failure live on television. This story will not fade quickly. As the long recovery proceeds, the footage will be shown again and again. The reporters will need to keep their memories fresh if they are to continue to speak truth to power. And we will have to back them all the way, and not merely with more of those noble words."
Will the reporters sustain their outrage? Will they reclaim the aggressive portion of their historical role? (Reminder to critics of bold reporting: "Aggressive" is not synonymous with "hostile" or "insulting.") Will the reporters' nervous corporate bosses pass the word to them to cool it? I hope not. But even if such instructions are given, reporters will know that what they saw and lived through in New Orleans and elsewhere on the coast wasn't a one-time event or an exception to the rule. Our national government has more and more become a Potemkin village, a Hollywood set where the houses look welcoming and the people speak with noble words, but it's mostly a facade to distract us from the hollowness of those we elected.
The people of the Bush administration are also shocked, not by their own fecklessness, but by the knowledge that so many Americans witnessed their failure live on television. This story will not fade quickly. As the long recovery proceeds, the footage will be shown again and again. The reporters will need to keep their memories fresh if they are to continue to speak truth to power. And we will have to back them all the way, and not merely with more of those noble words."
# posted by ATN @ 6:58 PM 
