Somthing big is going on,

Is it just me or is there a death of live coverage coming from New Orleans and the surrounding area?

Maybe it's ghoulish, but I've been surfing furiously for more live footage from New Orleans. There's precious little to be seen. The majority of what I'm seeing (local, cable news, CNN, MSNBC, etc) is either talking heads or the same clips from rescue choppers over and over again. I haven't seen much video from say, the Superdome, or even the streets. Is it just me? Am I missing it? Or has most of the TV news corp retreated to safe distance (in another state)? Or are the images too scary for prime time?

Are you wondering if they're really just rounding up all the homeless folks and making them vanish or something???

As if they're just using this event to help rid the world of some of the population???

it night time, the reporters are not willing to risk their lives to show you the darkness and what may or may not being happening in it. I do think most of the media is doing a good job of showing what the situation is like in New Orleans.

Most of the days coverage today was totally compiled of "clips"... No major live coverage..Thats my big worry..

nah you just missed it, there was alot of live coverage on FOX and other stations.

One thing i dont see on CNN coverage from New Orleans is caucasions..If they were rich white neo conservatives my guess is they would be already safe.

It's just like that scene from the movie Speed where Keanu Reeves rigs that TV monitor to keep looping the same sequence of scenes on the bus so Dennis Hopper can't see whats really going on. I think most images of whats really going on there are too disturbing for primetime. The Bush cabal controlling the media wouldn't the public to see that there was more coordination in responding to the tsunami half a world away last winter than a catastophe in our own backyard.

I'm sure mobility is a huge issue. It's risky taking all that equipment onto a raft of any kind. I can imagine that the scene is pretty grim down there all together. I'm sure they are directed not to show some of the more gruesome imagery and therefore don't have a lot of footage because of all the editing.

The demographics of New Orleans show that 67.25% of the population is black, and the news coverage of flood victims is overwhelmingly of blacks.

I know from the census report on poverty the other day that 24.7% of black people in America live in poverty, the largest percentage of any racial group. In that perspective what we are seeing is a reflection of the demographics of the area and the nation.

New Orleans Population

Poverty Rates by Race

America, we need to come together as a people and realize that we are faced with a disaster of biblical proportions on the Gulf Coast right now. This is bigger than Pearl Harbor, bigger than Mt St. Helens, bigger than any flood ever, bigger even than 9/11. I mean in the scope of the diaster, the number of lives taken and affected, the size of the area devastated, the amount of infrastructure lost, and the threat posed to our nation as a whole.

Many people are going to be stressed to the breaking point in the days and weeks ahead. There will be an increasing ripple effect felt across the country. We are especially vulnerable right now, and we need to take steps to respond rapidly and restore vital services to those without basic necessities.

One report I heard said it was like the coast of the Gulf of Mexico just up and moved 70 miles inland overnight. There may be more than a million people without homes, jobs, or resources to recover from this tragedy. This is just the beginning of a massive, ongoing relief effort that I'm sure will last years.

We can pull together and weather this storm, and any that follow (don't forget, hurricaine season is just now peaking) by relying on the spirit that made this country great, all of us contributing our effort to the common good. We may be down, but don't ever count us out.

RIght on guys..exactly. This is being severly coverd up.

I think it's to early to tell

I do not think it is being covered up. This has got to be breath taking to all the reporters and other rescuers on the scene. How much worse can the situation get I keep asking myself.

I personally think they are doing a great job covering the news there. Like already said it is dark there now and just reported on CNN the police in different areas have even give up they are so stressed out from the situation. Downtown NO police presently have the police station surrounded trying to save it from all the thugs still down there.

I say get all the police and reporters out of there and let the thugs have their water hellhole.

[edit on 1-9-2005 by Harry55]

It's going to get ugly if the gas stations don't start getting some kind of supply in soon, the shortage isn't just a rumor anymore.

The government has turned its head on the New Orleans problem for decades and Bush cut the funding to rebuild the levee system but obviously nobody planned for the innevitable and i think the worst is yet to come..that water isnt going anywhere by itself..that bowl of stew has to be drained..I cant imagine why the talk of rebuilding when they wouldnt flip the bill to rebuild the levee system in the first place..to quote my fave band "New Orleans is sinkin man and i dont wanna swim"-Tragically Hip

there were several video clips from the superdome the night of the hurricane....then they apparently clamped down on them. and yes, that's a bad sign. rumors and reports are that the superdome is now a squalid refugee camp with the frailer people begining to die. so how are we better than zimbabwe again in our response to disasters??

Well with reports saying that people are getting raped and killed at the Superdome, and the dead bodys floating down the streets, I'd say that the videos and pictures aren't exactly the right ones for prime time.

i was watching the news last night which had a reporter on the ground in biloxi. his report was mainly interviewing people and they were more or less saying the same thing - that they had seen no-one there to help them and they had no food or water or medical supplies for those who need them or gas etc. there were shots of people with banners waving at the helicopter saying 'help us'.

there were people attempting to leave and go anywhere with nothing left behind them and no idea what was in front of them. they were simply people in desperate need and no sign of troops or airdrops or anything. one womans husband was sitting waiting to die because he needs an oxygen supply and his had run out.

perhaps i only saw these things because i live in europe?? is there a difference i wonder in how the US is portraying this disaster (eg concentrating on the looters & property & law it seems) and the rest of the worlds media who see the human side of the disaster?

Do you need to see the bloated bodies farting out rotting gasses, or people being raped or shot?

Just how much coverage is enough?

As it is, this is a bonus for all the networks and they have a big story to cover for all it's worth. They love this stuff and we all eat it up and ask for more. If they don't show enough we complain and if they show too much we complain. It's all a matter of perspective and what you personally can take on the gore meter.

personally id rather see people being rescued from the terrible situation they find themselves in rather than hear about how there is no-one helping them and they are just waiting or fending for themselves.

oh, & in case you think im a voyeuristic ghoul who enjoys watching this sort of thing... its only the second news item on the hurricane i have actually 'seen' as its very rare i ever see tv.

i want to see it all. do not sugar coat the news. if it is horrible let me see. just show me the truth