The third disaster we never ever heard about
An interesting look at what passes for a news story.
What if, a major US city suffered over One Billion Dollars in damage, what if 30 people died and what if nobody ever heard about it.
From
Newsweek:
Why the Media Ignored the Nashville Flood
As you may have heard, torrential downpours in the southeast flooded the Tennessee capital of Nashville over the weekend, lifting the Cumberland River 13 feet above flood stage, causing an estimated $1 billion in damage, and killing more than 30 people. It could wind up being one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history (PDF).
Or, on second thought, maybe you didn't hear. With two other "disasters" dominating the headlines�the Times Square bombing attempt and the Gulf oil spill�the national media seems to largely to have ignored the plight of Music City since the flood waters began inundating its streets on Sunday. A cursory Google News search shows 8,390 hits for "Times Square bomb" and 13,800 for "BP oil spill." "Nashville flood," on the other hand, returns only 2,430 results�many of them local. As Betsy Phillips of the Nashville Scene writes, "it was mind-boggling to flip by CNN, MSNBC, and FOX on Sunday afternoon and see not one station even occasionally bringing their viewers footage of the flood, news of our people dying."
I have been following the story as I am driving to Tennessee in three weeks (Memphis is just fine -- wet but fine). it was odd to notice its absence in the local newspapers. Don't watch much television.
Posted by DaveH at May 6, 2010 8:41 PM