There is no There, There

More than ever, the mainstream press is not the place to go for inquiring minds seeking solid information. I tuned in CNN Monday for the latest news on the hurricane disaster, and heard nothing but speculation on how the storm and its aftermath was affecting President Bush politically. A CNN political analyst spent quite a long time dissecting a poll on the subject. Meanwhile, CNN kept repeating outrageous statements from self-serving Louisiana politician working overtime to absolve themselves of responsibility by passing the blame upstairs. But CNN was doing little more than acting as a caricature for all the mainstream press. There are stories to be learned and substantive failures that deserve sincere investigation. But, none of this are to be learned from the mainstream press, which simply focused on who said what about whom and who was winning the mudslinging contest. What Hurricane Katrina has certainly taught us is that, if you want genuine information, avoid the mainstream press. To borrow shamelessly from Gertrude Stein, there is no there, there.
The "new media" is where information is to be found. I have not heard on broadcast news or read anywhere in a newspaper the real story behind the incredible squalor and suffering at the Superdome and the Morial Convention Center. While the mainstream press did a fine job of showing us the misery, aside from Fox News, no outlet reported that, on the orders of governor Kathleen Blanco, Louisiana law enforcement prevented the Red Cross from delivering food, water and medicine to those suffering people. According to the Red Cross's website, the relief organization is still being kept out. One of these days, after Blanco is done using the mainstream press as her bullhorn to criticize the federal government, shouldn't somebody ask her why?
The Associated Press published photographs of hundreds of New Orleans school buses, parked in neat rows, submerged in floodwaters. Why hasn't anyone investigated why those buses were parked in a low lying area when they could have been used to evacuate all those impoverished people whom we are constantly reminded did not have the means to escape on their own. I have read that New Orleans owns 2000 school buses, all of which are now under water. In addition, the city owned over 350 municipal buses. If only 42 people had been loaded onto each of those buses, then all of the 100,000 residents who were stranded could have reached safety. And, as an added bonus, those buses would today be high and dry, available for future use and not leaking diesel fuel into the floodwaters. The next trip those buses make will be to the scrap metal dealer.
One of these days, after Ray Nagin exhausts himself after one of his tirades, why won't somebody from the New York Times or CBS ask him why he left those school buses parked below sea level? Why, if thousands of people could be assembled at the Convention Center and the Superdome, couldn't those same people have been loaded on buses and driven to high ground?
The blogosphere, talk radio, and occasionally Fox News asks those questions. But, the mainstream press seems uninterested.
FEMA Director Michael Brown has few defenders. Indeed, he has exhibited little evidence that he possesses the slightest aptitude for the job. But, surely the press could do more than report the shrill and extravagant personal insults of Nancy Pelosi and Mary Landrieu. I read earlier this week that Michael Brown waited until 5 hours after Katrina struck before dispatching FEMA employees to the area. That may be a fact, but it's hardly information. Was there a good reason, such as transportation availability? Was it prudent to wait until damage reports identified the neediest areas before boarding airplanes? Perhaps Michael Brown is a moron. But, I need more than Hilary Clinton's word on it. Surely a newspaper or a broadcast news source could do a little investigation, rather than rely upon hysterical ranting of partisan politicians to fill column space and air time.
I realize that all I ask would require an honest day's work. But I also appreciate what Penn State football coach Joe Paterno meant when he said that, if he ever needed a brain transplant, he wanted the brain of a journalist. That way, he'd know that he was getting one that hadn't been used much.

Update, the story about the Red Cross being kept out of New Orleans is off the charitable organization's website. But, the story can still be found here.