The Day After: Take 3
Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman….
CNN (TWX), for example, dispatched about 100 journalists to the area extending from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., and Nashville. They flocked by cars and airplanes from bureaus as far away as Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, New York, Washington and even Los Angeles and San Francisco. The other TV networks had similar levels of commitment.
…
Thankfully, I didn’t see any suicide footage. I want to believe that the networks wouldn’t have shown it in the interest of not allowing drama to deteriorate into voyeurism. (The lure of high ratings versus dignity? Hmmm. Okay, who am I kidding?)
CNN/US Senior Vice President Sue Bunda compared the level of suffering in New Orleans now “to the human toll of 9/11, in terms of people calling into CNN and asking about their loved ones.”
At one point, I saw footage of a distraught man who couldn’t find his wife in the wreckage. The helpless man’s tears were real and his dismay was genuine. It was terrific, dramatic TV. But the man’s suffering seemed too private for a stranger like me to be witnessing. I felt like a voyeur.
Why in the world would this guy have CNN in his story? They dispatched ALL those peopel to ALL those different places yet still used taped packages when Katrina was approaching New Orleans. This guy must be married to somebody there.
Comment by JMW — August 31, 2005 @ 10:12 am
JMW: Jon Friedman is a far-left media writer at CBS Marketwatch and similar to the Oregonian columnist discussed in the above thread, hates FNC and what they have done to the CNN viewership.
Comment by Ira — August 31, 2005 @ 11:47 am
Why in the world would people call CNN to find out about their loved ones?
Comment by chris — August 31, 2005 @ 11:48 am
Chris - I’m not all together certain that a lot of people are calling CNN to find their loved ones. The idea is absurd. I am certain, however, that the CNN executive has probably been at CNN for a very long time, is a bit out of touch, and is under the impression that CNN is the go-to news network for information (including, evidently, lost family members), which it isn’t, and hasn’t been in years.
Comment by Dave — August 31, 2005 @ 12:05 pm
Dave - You’re so right on this one — Sue Bunda has been at CNN in Atlanta since 1987. Talk about a lifer!
Comment by Ted — August 31, 2005 @ 1:08 pm