Schoolchildren in New Orleans and surrounding areas got a jolt this morning.
Another hurricane may be heading their way.
Only one news source was reporting this disturbing development – Channel One News. They weren’t breaking a news story – just the opposite. They had stayed too long with an old story.
Channel One news reporter Andrew Marquardt starts off today’s newscast standing in Jackson Square in New Orleans. He has a serious look as he says, "It was one year ago tomorrow that hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, killing 1,500 people and causing billions of dollars worth of damage. President Bush will be in the region today… but it’s the possible arrival of another hurricane that has everyone talking."
[Channel One’s news writers purposefully wanted to end with: "… but it’s the possible arrival of another hurricane that has everyone talking." That is the punch line. That will get attention of the children. The depiction of and the threat of violence (a hurricane is the most destructive force in nature) always gets our attention.]
Marquardt later talks with other people asking if they are prepared for Ernesto (Channel One’s transcript is below). The head of the Army Corps of Engineers says New Orleans can handle a hit by Ernesto. Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco says the state is ready for this hurricane. A local is interviewed and he says he’s not worried because, "What could Ernesto do that Katrina didn’t do?"
Reality Check: Ernesto isn’t coming anywhere near New Orleans or any other area that was hit by Katrina. It WAS coming that way on Friday. On Saturday, the track started to change. On Sunday, the projected track produced by the National Hurricane Center included no possibility of New Orleans or any part of Louisiana or Mississippi being affected by Ernesto.
 |
| This is the official tracking map from the National Hurricane Center as of 8:00 PM EDT on Sunday, August 27. Obligation made this picture of the map at 7:15 PM CDT. Notice "Hurricane" Ernesto has been downgraded to Tropical Storm Ernesto. It never became a hurricane again. Channel One was still calling it a "hurricane" the next morning. On Sunday night, Channel One News could have checked this map and wire service news stories about Ernesto just like Obligation did. They had plenty of time to change their script. They didn’t, and that led to the misleading information that was presented to their audience on Monday morning. |
So why did Channel One News report on Monday that Hurricane Ernesto was a threat to New Orleans?
Take a look at the photo of Mr. Marquardt. He is in sunshine. That’s the reason.
Channel One is a taped show. In the early morning hours the completed show is beamed by satellite to schools. The show is automatically recorded on a VCR for playback later during the school day. Channel One promises that schools will receive the satellite transmission before 6:00 am. That means the taping of the show can occur up to around 3:00 AM. If Channel One wanted the most current news headlines possible, they would wait until after midnight to tape a reporter reading the top headlines. But who wants to be working that late into the night?
Mr. Marquardt is reading his cue cards in Jackson Square with a bright sun. There are no long shadows. This means that he read these lines on Sunday afternoon or Sunday morning. The crew wanted to shoot the footage for the next day and be done with it. That is lazy journalism. And "lazy journalism" is "no journalism." Nobody at Channel One checked on the track of the storm. Even at noon on Sunday, Channel One’s producer should have known to drop the references to Ernesto possibly hitting New Orleans. It was a horrible blunder that may have caused unnecessary concern among the middle school and high school students in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Unfortunately, there may well be other bad storms in the future for the children of New Orleans and surrounding areas. They certainly don’t need Channel One News creating unnecessary fears.
Channel One has a competitor. They’re called CNN Student News. The transcript of their Monday, August 28, 2006 show was posted at 12:42 a.m. EDT. Unlike the Channel One crew, they got it right:
PARK: We begin today with a weather report that has Florida officials nervous. A storm named Ernesto is the cause. Forecasters say it could hit Florida’s west coast this week. People in the Caribbean are already feeling Ernesto’s rain and winds. On the island of Hispaniola, shared by the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, heavy rain caused rivers to rise in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo.
This was an embarrassing day for Channel One. Needlessly scaring Louisiana students was completely avoidable. Even worse is how they treated Florida students. The show said nothing about Ernesto’s real track. If students in the Sunshine State had relied on Channel One News, they would have had no sense of the true danger to them.
From Channel One‘s August 28, 2006 transcript:
ALEXANDER: HELLO FROM NEW ORLEANS. I’M ALEXANDER MARQUARDT. I’M STANDING IN JACKSON SQUARE — IN THE HEART OF THIS CITY THAT IS SET TO MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF HURRICANE KATRINA. IT WAS ONE YEAR AGO TOMORROW THAT HURRICANE KATRINA SLAMMED INTO THE GULF COAST, KILLING OVER 1500 PEOPLE AND CAUSING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF DAMAGE. PRESIDENT BUSH WILL BE IN THE REGION TODAY…BUT IT’S THE POSSIBLE ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER HURRICANE THAT HAS EVERYONE TALKING.
HURRICANE ERNESTO
ALEXANDER: ALMOST A YEAR HAS PASSED SINCE HURRICANE KATRINA WASHED ASHORE ON THE GULF COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.
ALEXANDER: ITS WINDS, STORM SURGE, AND RAINS DEVASTATED THE MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA COASTS AND DROWNED NEW ORLEANS.
ALEXANDER: NOW, THERE’S ANOTHER STORM CHURNING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO WITH IT’S EYE ON AT LEAST ONE OF THE GULF STATES. ALREADY THE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA HAS DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
ALEXANDER: AND THAT’S MAKING NEW ORLEANS RESIDENTS WHO ARE STILL RECOVERING FROM KATRINA NERVOUS.
TEEN: I’M STILL A LITTLE SCARED, BUT I THINK IT’S GOING TO BE OK.
KATHRYNE MCNEIL: I DON’T WANT IT TO HIT DIRECTLY BECAUSE THEN THAT WILL BE WORSE. BECAUSE WE DIDN’T EVEN START…WE DIDN’T EVEN START WITH THE REBUILDING AND EVERYTHING AND IF ANOTHER HURRICANE COMES…THAT’S JUST GOING TO BE WORSE.
ALEXANDER: A POLL NEWLY RELEASED BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FOUND THAT MUCH OF AMERICA AGREES. 57-PERCENT SAID THE U.S. IS NOT READY FOR ANOTHER MAJOR DISASTER LIKE KATRINA. AND IT SEEMS THERE MAY BE CAUSE FOR CONCERN.
ALEXANDER: DURING A DEMONSTRATION OF NEW ORLEANS NEW FLOODGATES THIS WEEKEND, THE HEAD OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS SAID THE CITY MAY NOT BE READY.
LT. GEN. CARL STROCK: AM I PLEASED WITH WHERE WE ARE TODAY? NO. WE HAD HOPED TO HAVE THIS PROJECT FULLY FUNCTIONING AS DESIGNED BY THE FIRST OF JUNE.
ALEXANDER: THE CORPS ADMITS IT HAS ONLY FINISHED ABOUT 20 PERCENT OF THE REPAIRS THE GOVERNMENT HAS BUDGETED, AND IT NEEDS MORE TIME.
ALEXANDER: BUT LIEUTENANT GENERAL CARL STROCK SAYS HE’S NOT WORRIED ABOUT ERNESTO.
LT. GEN. CARL STROCK: SO I AM AS CONFIDENT AS I CAN POSSIBLY BE THAT WE ARE PREPARED FOR ERNESTO, SHOULD HE TURN THIS WAY.
ALEXANDER: I SPOKE WITH LOUISIANA GOVERNOR KATHLEEN BLANCO AND ASKED FOR HER THOUGHTS.
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO: WELL I CAN’T SPEAK FOR THE OTHER GULF STATES, BUT I KNOW THAT LOUISIANA IS AS READY AS WE’VE EVER BEEN…WE’VE GOT ALL KINDS OF THINGS READY TO GO INTO MOTION THE MINUTE WE KNOW THAT THE HURRICANE WOULD BE COMING HERE. WE’VE GOT OUR WHOLE COAST TOTALLY ALERT…WE’VE GOT EVERYTHING WE NEED IN PLAY…BUT THE BIG THING, I HAVE TO TELL YOU, IS THAT NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, WE HAVE TO DEPEND ON PEOPLE TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY TO HAVE THEIR OWN EXIT PLAN…THEY’VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HARM’S WAY.
ALEXANDER: BUT NEW ORLEANS RESIDENTS SAY THERE’S VERY LITTLE LEFT FOR ERNESTO TO DESTROY.
FRANK BIVENETTO: WHY WOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT IT. I MEAN, TAKE A LOOK AROUND. SCAN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. LOOK AT MY HOUSE. WHAT COULD ERNESTO DO THAT KATRINA DIDN’T DO?
WEB TAG
ALEXANDER: YOU CAN SEE MAJOR MOMENTS IN OUR HURRICANE KATRINA COVERAGE, FROM WHEN THE STORM HIT, TO THE GULF COAST’S EFFORTS TO REBUILD, ON OUR NEW BROADBAND CHANNEL, ‘LIVEWIRE.’ JUST GO OVER TO CHANNEL ONE DOT COM.
