Oh boy, here we go again! Hurricane breathing down my neck

[August]

Any word yet on how the USS Texas fared in the storm?

[STEED]

Get Donald to build a wall a Hurricane proof wall.

[vienna]

One of the biggest irritants when a disaster happens is the media reporters who seem to be obnoxiously in the face of the very victims while those poor souls are just trying to cope with the situation. A mother in Houston was placed in just such a situation and responded n a most emphatic fashion (caution: strong language):

Mother's furious outburst at CNN reporter for interviewing Harvey evacuees live on air 'during their worst times' --

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...r-live-TV.html

Houston Mother Tells Off CNN --

http://www.thedailybeast.com/houston...-wrong-with-us

I notice the network very quickly moved to cut off the interview; I also noticed the network did not apologize for being self-serving vultures...





<O>

[STEED]

Originally Posted by vienna

One of the biggest irritants when a disaster happens is the media reporters who seem to be obnoxiously in the face of the very victims while those poor souls are just trying to cope with the situation. A mother in Houston was placed in just such a situation and responded n a most emphatic fashion (caution: strong language):

Mother's furious outburst at CNN reporter for interviewing Harvey evacuees live on air 'during their worst times' --

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...r-live-TV.html

Houston Mother Tells Off CNN --

http://www.thedailybeast.com/houston...-wrong-with-us

I notice the network very quickly moved to cut off the interview; I also noticed the network did not apologize for being self-serving vultures...





<O>

Today's media can be a right royal pain in the arse at times.

[Platapus]

If people are choosing to be interviewed by the media, they should be allowed to be interviewed. The media can't force anyone to talk to them.

A quick no thank you or no comment is all that is needed and the press quickly moves to the next person. The press is not going to waste their time trying to convince one of many ordinary citizens to be interviewed. There are always people willing to be interviewed by the press.

[Eichhörnchen]

Originally Posted by vienna

Actually, to be fair, these sorts of disasters are "damned if you do, damned if you don't" sort of situations

Speaking of which:

http://www.wideopencountry.com/houst...mpaign=trancos

[Skybird]

No pleasant encounter, but fascinating nevertheless.

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Platapus

If people are choosing to be interviewed by the media, they should be allowed to be interviewed. The media can't force anyone to talk to them.

A quick no thank you or no comment is all that is needed and the press quickly moves to the next person. The press is not going to waste their time trying to convince one of many ordinary citizens to be interviewed. There are always people willing to be interviewed by the press.

Don't know how it is around your whereabouts, but I have seen an awful lot of instances where reporters have hounded victims of various sorts of bad experiences rather than go for the "easy" interview. The willing interviewee is quite often not the sought after subject when there is an opportunity for a dramatic "get"; if a reporter sees one person just standing around adapting easily to a situation, that is not news; if a reporter sees another person in emotional distress, well, that makes for good video. It all falls into the old news cliche: "If it bleeds, it leads". When I used to work in downtown LA at the County Civic Center, I would sometimes see the news vans clustered outside the Courthouses, the reporters waiting for whatever sensational scandal or crime du jour case to let out and I'd see them rush to be first to get their interviews, The fastest beeline was made towards the individuals who were the most in distress; they would rush past all the other 'normal' participants and go straight for the drama. Dull and mundane does not make for "good" reporting or the advancement of a reporter's career...

As far as not going after someone who doesn't want to be interviewed, how often have you seen a reporter chase after someone who has explicitly declined to be interviewed or declined comment while being barraged by repeated questions? There have been times when I have seen people being badgered by insensitive reporters and I have wished there where some sort of restriction on their behavior, sort of "If the person says 'No', you must back off and move on"...

As long as I'm on the subject of reporters, there is another pet peeve: reporters who show up at a disaster scene and immediately seem to make it seem they are part of the emergency effort; I'll never forget one scene where there was a massive wildfire and some of the firefighters were coming off the line following being relived by new firefighters; as they came down into the base camp, a reporter, all fresh in his California casual outfit, ran up to the firefighter who was the senior leader of the team, and cheerfully asked "How is our effort to stop the fire going? How are we doing?" The tired and dirty senior firefighter didn't miss the 'our' and 'we' and, with a classic 'looks that kill' glance, gestured to the other tired firefighters and said "We are doing our best and we will be back on line after we rest and eat. I hope you have a nice day." And. with that, he walked away towards his team...




<O>

[HW3]

Reporters can be the worst. Most are only looking for that next big scoop to put in their portfolio to help move them up the network ladder towards the coveted anchor chair.

[Skybird]

Risk analyst company RIT numbers the costs for Harvey now at "minimum 90 billion dollars". - Katrina costed around 100 billion.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by vienna

how often have you seen a reporter chase after someone who has explicitly declined to be interviewed or declined comment while being barraged by repeated questions?

An ordinary citizen that is not exclusively tied to the story? Never.

Reporters I have seen want to get the story (any story it seams) the quickest so they can transmit it back to the office in minutes. They want the low hanging fruit and would much rather talk to 5 willing people quickly than try to convince one person.

Especially since getting the facts is not exactly the top priority with some reporters.

Now if there is only one person to interview, then yes, the competition can get quite invasive.

During my time with some NGOs when we were holding one of our events, the reporters had no problems getting people to talk to them. Unfortunately, they often talked to the wrong people so often it was the NGO chasing down the reporter so we can give them the accurate information.

Reporters that don't want to be talked to can be just as rude as citizens who don't want to be talked to.

[Skybird]

Some insurrance companies have numbered the damage now to record maximums of over 170 billion. That is, so the media say, because a greater area is affected than during Katrina, and this area affected also holds far more industrialised and business areas.

[Platapus]

"Texas officials say they've gotten hundreds of complaints about price gouging and scams in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

One convenience store in Houston reportedly charged $20 for a gallon of gas, $8.50 for a bottle of water and $99 for a case of water, according to the Texas Attorney General's office.



The state has received 684 complaints in all, according to Kayleigh Lovvorn, a spokeswoman for the office."


People suck

[Mr Quatro]

CNN said the estimated cost is up to 190 billion dollars with 100,000 homes flooded
and over 500,000 cars under water and they are running out of gas in Dallas
and here comes Hurricane Irma already a cat 3 storm at 115 mph, expected to hit land
on 9/11 no less (Atlantic or the Gulf Coast they don't know yet): https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/hu...lantic-n797791

Packing 115-mph winds and strengthening rapidly, Irma was declared a Category 3 hurricane just before 5 p.m. and was heading west at 12 mph and picking up speed, the National Hurricane Center reported. At the time, it was about 3,000 miles southeast of Miami.

[Onkel Neal]

Yes, it’s a little crazy here right now. First the hurricane, then the unending rains and flooding, and then as the sun came out, the rivers are all overflowing so more flooding.

We got in to work yesterday, got started on catching up, then this morning the town where my office is had a state trooper on the road turning people around. Had to get to the EOC and get this fixed, they allowed us to work today but tomorrow is mandatory evacuation. Yikes, it's really going to hurt business.