99% of What the Media Tells us is [Expletive]

The Seattle Times has an interesting article today about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It turns out that what the media was telling us - about murders, rapes, and horrible crimes - is almost totally bogus.

Following days of internationally reported murders, rapes and gang violence inside the stadium, the doctor from FEMA, Beron doesn't remember his name, came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.

"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalled the doctor saying.

The real total?

Six, Beron said.

Of those, four died of natural causes, one overdosed and another jumped to his death in an apparent suicide, said Beron, who personally oversaw the handoff of bodies from a Dome freezer.

At the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, just four bodies have been recovered, despite reports of heaps of dead piled inside the building. Only one of the dead appeared to have been murdered, said health and law-enforcement officials.

The vast majority of reported atrocities committed by evacuees - mass murders, rapes and beatings - have turned out to be false, or at least unsupported by any evidence, according to key military, law-enforcement, medical and civilian officials in positions to know.

"I think 99 percent of it is [expletive]," said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Lachney, who played a key role in security and humanitarian work inside the Dome. "Don't get me wrong - bad things happened. But I didn't see any killing and raping and cutting of throats or anything ... 99 percent of the people in the Dome were very well-behaved."

Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan said authorities have only confirmed four murders in the entire city in the aftermath of Katrina, making it a typical week in a city that anticipated more than 200 homicides this year.

"Everything was embellished, everything was exaggerated," said Deputy Police Superintendent Warren Riley. "If one guy said he saw six bodies, then another guy the same six, and another guy saw them - then that became 18."

I could go on and on, but read the article for yourself. It turns out that once again the media was so fired up to tell the story they "knew" was happening that they made no effort to substantiate anything they were told - they fired off every BS story like it was fact. Kudos to the Seattle Times for reporting the truth. How many other media outlets will do the same?

via PowerLine

PS - How quick were we all to believe that these poor helpless people in New Orleans would take to killing each other at a moment's notice? I know I was guilty about assuming what I was hearing was true. This is one case that again reminds us to take "news" from the mainstream media with a grain of salt...