In reference to RITA 24/7 coverage - Enough is Fucking Enough!

[FrenchieCat]

I have been observing since a couple of days ago, the Corporate media's coverage of RITA. It has been intriguing that since this morning, when it became obvious that Rita landed on shore as a Level 3 Hurricane which quickly dissepated to a Tropical storm, that all of the coverage she has garneted has not been warranted. I realize that some property damage was incurred, but Rita was nothing like Katrina, to any extent.

I grieve for anyone who may have experienced damage with this storm, but as far as the Corporate media is concerned....it's time they moved on. There really is nothing to see here....24/7.

My letter sent to Fox, CNN and MSNBC.....

Dear Producer,
I am now turning my dial off of your station and on to a movie channel. You are currently underestimating my intelligence with these non-stop reports on former Hurricane Rita, now downgraded to a Tropical Storm. You may have wanted Rita to be as devastating as Katrina was, but she just wasn't.

Currently what I am seeing and hearing from my screen are literally unbelievably exaggerated descriptions from reporters attempting to make the storm out to be worse than what it was. Sorry, you will not be able to use this storm to politically assist and rehabilitate George Bush and the Republicans' atrocious response to Katrina. Also, you will not be able to contrast Katrina and Rita because they were not the same storms and inflicted very different levels of damage. Rita's worse damage seems to have been done in New Orleans, and only because Rita caused additional damage to damage already done by Katrina.

Please stop it with the weather reports already, and start reporting other news. There is a lot happening all over the world, and your desperate attempts to keep the American public distracted at this point is becoming quite comical, to say the least.

Respectfully,
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX

[Robertwf]

1. Whatever...

try living in the midst of it.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Please, I know what I see on the cable....

and the drama queen reporters are wearing me out.

Tropical Storm RITA is not the only thing going on....and reporting 24/7 on this one, is not gonna make the other one and how lousy that was handled go away.

Sorry, I know the media, and I know their tricks. At this point, this is one of them. They can fool some of the people, but not me.

Local stations covering this stuff....fine.

[Skidmore]

3. Did you catch Miles O'Brien trying to get his tush blown

away?

[FrenchieCat]

6. Did it?

get blow away, I mean. See, I don't think so...which is the problem.

[Skidmore]

8. Unfortunately, no.

[txindy]

4. Oh, no kidding.

Rita came ashore as a Category 3, but an awful lot of people here are disappointed. Whatever. I know people whose lives have been turned upside down and may not have homes to go back to in Beaumont.

[FrenchieCat]

5. Again, I know what real reporting is, and what it ain't.....

24/7 coverage, while covering nothing else, is not justified in the case of Trina.

I am not saying it doesn't bare any coverage. I'm just saying that it's more than it deserves.

I realize that folks were evacuated....but the storm is over, and there was relatively little property damage relative to the last Hurricane.

The Refineries were not damaged...but somehow Gas is still scheduled to go up in price. WTF does that mean?

I'm telling you, I don't appreciate being jacked around by the media.....no more now than at other times.

[txindy]

7. Then don't watch.

The millions who evacuated the Gulf Coast need to see what's going on, or not going on, in their cities and towns. If that bothers you, too bad. Local news stations don't have the manpower or equipment to cover this. Don't like the cable news? Turn it off.

A Category 3 hurricane, particularly one that had been a Category 5 only the day before it hit land, would be a major story even without Katrina.

Yet another flamebait thread.

[FrenchieCat]

9. My true honest feelings should not be called flamebait....

Like I said, the coverage is over the top.

Part of the reason that Katrina was so devastating is that the Media covered Hurricanes in the past as though it was all a great big game.

I remember the reporters finding a real windy place to do their telecast and then stepping out of the wind, and it was much calmer.

I guess that folks got used to Hurricane coverage being overplayed...and when Katrina hit, no one took it as seriously as they should have...and many probably didn't evacuate for the same reason. So maybe the media feels somewhat responsible for their prior crying wolf routine...how it possible affected the effectiness of coverage for Katrina....and now they've gone overboard again.

Same goes with Shark stories.

The media ain't all that. And I'm calling them on it. This is all!

[Ripley]

10. FWIW I agree with you.

Now before the storm, they should cover it wall to wall so that people can make the proper decisions about who should leave and what to expect. But now they are definitely just CYA and cheerleading for the Texas preparedness.

And the fact that they show endless minutes of "non" damage over hundreds of thousands of Americans protesting a war in our nations capital is outrageously fascist.

Same old MSM.

[MzShellG]

15. This is true...

Regarding the gas prices. The feds are looking for any excuse to hike the oil prices sky high. There had been other hurricanes in the gulf area in previous years. It's suspect how, all of a sudden, the oil market is so fragile, to the point where we'll be paying 30-71% more for electric and gas services this year. That should be investigated. I think it is being over-hyped for exactly that reason. An excuse to price gouge the entire country.

[Robertwf]

11. I totally disagree

with you. The storm is only one part of that story. We have a totally ruined metropolitan area. We have more displaced persons in this country than ever before in its history. We have the FEMA story with all of its f*ck-ups. We are going to have the sorriest story of economic turmoil for years to come. And if this coverage does anything to turn some people on to the fact that they better get moving to reduce global warming--bring it on.
The Katrina and Rita coverage were and are warranted.
Nothing has stopped me from checking international news for other stories. There is plenty of non-weather coverage of other significant messages.

[Ripley]

14. What metropolitan area is totally ruined in Texas?

Houston is not. I saw pictures of it and they had a few trees knocked down. The OP is talking about the wall to wall about the Texas coverage...which is basically just a severe weather story of local consequence (except for a fire and some flooding...haven't heard of any injuries or deaths).

You cannot possibly compare Rita with Katrina. Apples and Chihuahuas.

And why in the hell do AMERICAN CITIZENS need to check international news for "other" stories...like the March in DC????? Just where is this "international news" available to the average Joe? I have cable and I don't get the BBC.

And finally: There is plenty of non-weather coverage of other significant messages. Just what planet do you live on?

[WritingIsMyReligion]

12. Aye.

This isn't what I'd call flame-baiting. I AGREE with FrenchieCat. There's no story anymore! It's time for the MSM to stop whoring it up for BushCo, trying to praise them for a "better response." NOTHING can make up for what happened in NOLA.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Thanks!

Like I said before, it's not that this wasn't a real storm....it just was not of the magnitude that "they" thought it would be....and yet we are still getting these dramatic reports in where they are using their power of persuasion to attempt to get enough to think this storm was much more severe than it will turn out to have been, once all is said is done. The most devastating part of the storm was the huge evacuation orders....and the fact that people can't go back to their homes.

[BiggJawn]

16. She's not even a Tropical Storm anymore....

"Tropical Depression Rita". Looks like what WAS the eye is in southern Illinois. We're going to have rain for a coupla days now...
So toss some fucking Prozac at her and let's get on with life....