CNN Fixated On Negatives of Katrina Rather Than Positives of Rita

From: http://newsbusters.org/node/1442 CNN Fixated On Negatives of Katrina Rather Than Positives of Rita Posted by Noel Sheppard on September 26, 2005 - 09:51. As amazing as it might seem, it is now four weeks since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. Yet, even though another major storm has pummeled our country this weekend, CNN is still fixated on the perceived errors made by the federal government four weeks ago rather than the successful evacuation and preparations for Hurricane Rita. On Sunday’s “American Morning,” CNN’s Elaine Quijano spent part of her Hurricane Rita report chastising the president for his performance during Hurricane Katrina (video to follow): “The president's response this time contrasts with his actions during hurricane Katrina. When that storm came ashore, Mr. Bush, while monitoring Katrina, remained on vacation at his Texas ranch. He proceeded with previously planned events in Arizona and California, before returning to Washington two days later.” As an aside, there has only been one casualty related to Hurricane Rita, although it was actually the result of a tornado in Mississippi. Video Link (Photo from AP) Comments: malzone (not verified) Says:September 26, 2005 - 11:55 CNN is having an SOS.....another stuck on stupid moment. If it weren't for its core audience of liberal lefties, I believe CNN would go out of business. Fox triples CNN's numbers. Viewers are leaving because CNN is SOS. Statistical Note: CNN scored the biggest increase, but Fox News Channel remained dominant as hurricanes Katrina and Rita blew in big third-quarter ratings for the cable news outlets. Fox finished the quarter averaging 1.2 million daily viewers, up 31% from last year, followed by CNN with 693,000 viewers (a 39% increase) and MSNBC with 300,000 viewers (up 11%). HaroldHutchison Says:September 26, 2005 - 11:56 That the media has again decided to frame the sotry in a way that makes Republicans look bad. Had it been a Gore or Kerry Administration, the coverage would have been, "See how fast the government learned from its mistakes." If I follow a news network, it is usually Fox News. Free Mind Comments: CNN always has an anti-Bush slant, so it is no surprise that they go out of their way to make the failures during Katrina a bigger story than the success during Rita. There were failures at all levels during Katrina that will take months to sort out. By taking charge and acting decisively, President Bush showed during Hurricane Rita that evacuations and storm relief can be managed effectively. If the President did make mistakes during Katrina, he showed that he wanted to redeem himself with action, rather than dwelling on the negatives of the past. All journalists should just report the news about Rita as it happened, and leave the interpretation and comparisons up to the viewer. Quijano always makes everything Bush does seem like another looming scandal, and only reports negative news, so, if the response to Rita was a success, she will point out that Katrina was a failure. That does not mean she is smart, just that she can never be pleased by anything Bush does. As a Californian, it is upsetting that one of Bush’s rare visits to our state is criticized by CNN. We wish there was more neutral reporting, rather than going out of the way to put a negative slant on everything. She gets an “F” in reporting in my estimation. While many colleagues went into harm's way to try to accurately report the events, Quijiano always is arrogantly standing in a safe location like the White House lawn, and venomously attacking the president, as if she personally is the guardian of honesty and fairness. It is good to see that many bloggers and viewers agree with this. Fox News at least tries to portray more than one side of every issue, and for this they are hated by liberals who believe that only their interpretation is correct. Disasters such as Katrina are much too complex to blame on a small number of scapegoats such as Michael Brown, Bush, Blanco, Nagin, or whoever, it is really the entire network that failed. All Americans should try to help out.