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glitterypickles539
PostPosted: 01/16/10 2:34 am • # 1 
When I went to bed last night, I turned on the news on TV to get updated about what was going on in Haiti. CNN had extensive coverage, with Anderson Cooper on site. Fox had O'Reilly, once again discussing with his guests, Obama's response time to the crisis vs. his response time to the panty bomber. Nothing on Fox about Haiti and what was going on there. Guess Fox didn't have the money to send a crew to Haiti to report on the disaster relief efforts. Guess you gotta have priorities...
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 Offline sooz06
PostPosted: 01/16/10 4:59 am • # 2 
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That's a terrific observation, pic ~ I read something yesterday [that I meant to post but then got distracted and didn't] that the MSM is reporting that Fox "News" has aired virtually nothing on Haiti beyond an occasional mention in its headline-type segment ~ Brian Williams [NBC] and Diane Sawyer [ABC] and Cooper Anderson [CNN] arrived in Haiti virtually immediately, and all 3 of those networks have had expanded news coverage ~ I tend to watch NBC's national news and I know that Williams was using a satellite telephone to make his reports and that he and the crew slept outside and in cars at the heavily damaged airport their first couple of nights there ~ I'm sad and angry, but not surprised, that Fox and its believers [INcluding some well known "R" politicians] would use a great humanitarian crisis to slam Obama ~ they'd find something to attack if Obama said Saturday follows Friday ~

On a slightly different plank, USA Today has an article questioning when news coverage becomes exploitation and if the non-stop coverage is eroding the Haitians' personal dignity ~ they use the example [which I happened to see aired and it made me cry] of Cooper Anderson working a microphone into rubble to hear sobs and desperate cries for help from a woman trapped in the rubble ~ I think the question of when reporting becomes exploitation is a valid question ~

Sooz
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Sidartha
PostPosted: 01/16/10 5:15 am • # 3 
Anderson Cooper putting the microphone down into the rubble is bad enough, but it would have been a lot worse if he started asking the woman questions like "How did you feel when you felt the building shake.... blah blah blah?" I've seen reporters do it and it makes me cringe.
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kathyk1024
PostPosted: 01/16/10 5:29 am • # 4 
I just watched Anderson Cooper talking to Larry King about the stupid deaths in Haiti right now. I think he's pretty affected by what he is seeing. He saw a little girl with a crushed leg who died when if she'd had medical care or antibiotics she'd have been able to live. His point and quote is people are dying who don't have to die.

Fox, Rush and all the partisans screaming about Obama politicizing this tragedy. Obama quickly lended our support and pretty much shut up. The partisans are still politicizing the tragedy.
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 Offline jimwilliam
PostPosted: 01/16/10 6:18 am • # 5 
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On a slightly different plank, USA Today has an article questioning when news coverage becomes exploitation and if the non-stop coverage is eroding the Haitians' personal dignity ~ they use the example [which I happened to see aired and it made me cry] of Cooper Anderson working a microphone into rubble to hear sobs and desperate cries for help from a woman trapped in the rubble ~ I think the question of when reporting becomes exploitation is a valid question ~

 April made the same observation last night, Sooz. She was watching CNN and wondering if they had to be as graphic as they are with their reporting. I think some of it has to do with ratings - people love car wrecks. On the other hand, though, it does help bring home the magnitude of the disaster (any disaster). Nice sanitized pictures or just the written word leave the viewer with a "aww, that's too bad" reaction, while the pictures wratchet it up to "holy crap!!". I agree it does tend to assault the dignity of the victims somewhat, but I'll bet they also greatly increase the aid that gets there.
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susanneinohio
PostPosted: 01/16/10 7:30 am • # 6 
I think a compromise in dignity can also occur however with over sanitizing /editing out the realities of disasters in real time or as close to real time as feasible.

I agree with Jim with his comment related to stimulating people to provide needed aide , be it in donations and/or actions.

Btw , PIH ( Partners in Health ) is seeking people with private planes that are willing to fly in medical personel and supplies be it to various ports or the Dominican Republic etc. Also on the site is a place for healthcare professionals with surgical experience to contact PIH if interested in providing their services.

http://standwithhaiti.org...eer-and-donate-supplies/
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 Offline sooz06
PostPosted: 01/16/10 8:20 am • # 7 
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Both susanne and jim make excellent points about stimulating people to give ~ the problem for me is that invisible line ~ we can easily identify what is too little coverage, but what is too much? ~ good intentions can easily morph into sensory overload ~

BTW, I have long been a supporter of Doctors Without Borders but I have just recently learned about Partners in Health ~ both have pristine reputations for excellence and dedication ~

Kathy mentioned that Anderson Cooper appears "pretty affected by what he is seeing" ~ I know that first responders to any humanitarian crisis are deeply affected by what they experience ~ they see and hear and experience human suffering on a level that should never be ~ it often affects them for years to come ~ but that doesn't stop them from responding to the next crisis ~ that is what makes them such truly special human beings ~ and it makes sense that reporters would be deeply affected as well ~

Sooz

P.S. Happy to have you back, susanne ~ you've been missed!
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 Offline jimwilliam
PostPosted: 01/16/10 9:09 am • # 8 
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Both susanne and jim make excellent points about stimulating people to give ~ the problem for me is that invisible line ~ we can easily identify what is too little coverage, but what is too much? ~ good intentions can easily morph into sensory overload ~

 To me that invisible line comes when the reporter could be doing something rather than just photographing it. I don't mean videoing rescue workers or anything, but when somebody is in the rubble it seems to me they should be digging rather than sticking a microphone down so the audience can hear their cries for help.
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susanneinohio
PostPosted: 01/17/10 8:22 am • # 9 
On the other hand , Jim , you could be making a bit of an assumption. It could be , as with past recent disasters , a situation where various MSM reporters involve themselves with hands on disaster relief efforts alternating with thier intermittent stints with on air/job required tasks.
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susanneinohio
PostPosted: 01/17/10 9:07 am • # 10 
Sooz...

MSF/ Doctors without Borders for about 25 years now has been an organization my husband and I have supported. It is a favorite for us.



As to PIH , in more recent years we have also supported. If you have an interest in Paul Farmer and PIH , the book Mountains Beyond Mountains : The Quest for Dr. Paul Farmer , A Man who would Cure the World I found to be interesting. The romantic in me also like reading about the relationship in the early years of the Dr. and Ophelia Dahl ( author Roald Dahl's daughter ), another co founder of PIH ( of a total of 5 I think ). Presently ,if I am not mistaken, Paul Farmer with his family have residences in Haiti and Rwanda as well as the USA.
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