– or the media in general for that matter.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Oct. 23 press conference in southern California, where agency employees posed as news reporters, was a blatant abuse of public trust, leaders of the Society of Professional Journalists said Monday.
[…..]
A live broadcast of the staged briefing was carried on Fox News, MSNBC and other stations. Before a group of FEMA employees posing as news reporters, Johnson answered a few questions about shipments of supplies to the area and how the agency was dealing with residents who refused to leave. Other questions explained the difference between an emergency declaration and a major disaster declaration signed by the president. The last question, as determined by FEMA Press Secretary Aaron Walker, asked if Johnson was pleased with FEMA’s response and whether the agency learned anything from Katrina. Johnson said he was very pleased and that the agency had the benefit of experience, good leadership and good partnerships, none of which were present during Katrina.
Well, to be fair to the media that doesn’t suck, they were hoodwinked like everybody else. I would do a trackback to this article if I knew how… I also wrote a similar thought on this.