As I reported earlier, the demeanor of reporters covering Katrina is being put to the test. One clue as to how dire the situation in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast actually is can be seen in how the reporters covering the story are slowly coming apart. I applaud the likes of Shep Smith from Fox and Anderson Cooper from CNN, among others. They are doing a fantastic job. The emotion and frustration they, at times, are expressing does not seem to be forced but obvious result of the breadth of devastation and the lack of any coordinated assistence offered by the local, state or federal government.
Richard at the AllSpinZone (and Article19 and i66)turned me on to the Crooks and Liars story of the interview between Anderson Cooper (CNN) and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. Richard says...
Cooper took Landreiu apart, who made no less than two attempts to thank the Bush administration for its response to the disaster. Cooper (paraphrasing): “Are you fucking kidding me??? I've been here since the beginning. Today, I saw a woman's body being eaten by rats. There's no food. There's no water. There's no relief agencies. People are desperate.”
... I've never seen truer coverage of an event.
It was fantastic, even Wonkette enjoyed the studly Cooper giving it to Landrieu and posted a doosey of a response. Crooks and Liars have the video of the exchange.
Also, here is a transcript of an interaction between Anderson and Kathleen Koch, a CNN producer who grew up in the Gulf Coast area. (Search for 'Koch' to get to their conversation). Her emotion is, well, just real. Anderson's arm-pat gesture is awkward and sorta forced but, but honest and identical to what we would feel in the same situation. Anderson, I also don't know exactly what to do or say...keep up the good work.
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