Radified Community Forums - WTF ???: Katrina specials bumped in Big Easy

El_Pescador

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WTF ???: Katrina specials bumped in Big Easy
Nov 25^th, 2005 at 12:02pm

"... One more thing (una mas cosa): Frontline special airs tonight on Hurricane Katrina, titled 'The Storm', investigating the political storm surrounding the devastation of America's Gulf Coast ... asking hard questions about decisions leading up to the disaster and beyond.

It follows a Nova special titled 'Storm that Drowned a City'. Starts at 8PM here on the Left Coast. Get your popcorn ready. This should be interesting..."

RADIFIED: Indulge Your Technolust
http://radified.com/index2.html
22.nov.2005

The Greater New Orleans Area - and most of southeastern Louisiana plus adjacent Mississippi coastal counties - have two PBS affiliate stations. Unfortunately, WYES-TV is off the air indefinitely (storm damage?) which leaves only WLAE-TV for the local viewing public. Despite advance notice of the NOVA and FRONTLINE specials on Katrina placed in the New Orleans Times-Picayune the previous Sunday - and despite the contents of real-time banners placed by the cable-TV services prior to and during the announced airtime - WLAE-TV chose instead to air repeats of local midday programming

without explanation or comment of any kind

.

Fortunately for me - but not many others, I suspect - I made an immediate online inquiry of the PBS national schedule to discover a repeat broadcast of both presentations set up back-to-back the following morning. Compensating for time zone variation, I set up a VCR to capture both programs and I was delighted to see that WLAE-TV did indeed broadcast them right before dawn on the following day.

However, I remain mystified why presentations of such intense interest to the local community -

during primetime

- would be bumped in favor of repeating a couple of inane "talking-head" broadcasts from earlier on the same day. Oh, well - that is life in the fabled Big Easy where almost a half-million folks used to sleep each night - and while the Crescent City now has on the order of 150,000 present in the daytime, that falls to about 60,000 during hours of darkness.

EP

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Rad

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	Re: WTF ???: Katrina specials bumped in Big Easy Reply #1 - Nov 25^th, 2005 at 3:33pm I suspect the reason may be political, cuz the specials reveal how the administration screwed up.
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El_Pescador

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Re: WTF ???: Katrina specials bumped in Big Easy
Reply #2 - Nov 25^th, 2005 at 6:38pm

Rad wrote on Nov 25^th, 2005 at 3:33pm:

"... I suspect the reason may be political, cuz the specials reveal how the administration screwed up..."

WLAE-TV is one of six non-commercial television stations comprising the Louisiana Public Broadcast statewide network. Louisiana Public Broadcasting is licensed to the Louisiana Educational Television Authority (LETA), established in 1971 by the Louisiana Legislature.

I strongly suspect that if the currently "pissed-off" citizens of this region were absolutely convinced that a publicly-funded entity was pressured to suppress such presentations, there would be an uproar indeed.

EP

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Re: WTF ???: Katrina specials bumped in Big Easy
Reply #3 - Nov 26^th, 2005 at 11:10am

I have seen reports on how the administration tries to influence what "public" television airs. It appears they receive financial support from the government, and they are merely supposed to be "unbiased" .. but, as you know, what one man considers "neutral", another may consider "biased" .. especially if it is a "critical" piece. And the current administration does not handle criticism well.

So it would not surprise me if they convinced the network affiliate in that locale to air some other program. They probably couched it in terms of "we don't want to stir up the people".

To be honest, the guy in that Frontline special asked some of THE BEST questions I've ever heard in a documentary-interview. Very satisfying.

I mean, how's this one for ex-FEMA Director Brown: "Did you fail?"

Point-blank and blunt. When I heard that question, I knew it was gonna be a good show.

Tom Ridge (Dir. Homeland security) was peppered with questions until he was visibly aggravated. "I don't care how many time you presss me on this..."

The question that keeps coming up for the administration (time after time) is one of competence. They are good at "loyalty", but (it seems), this comes at the expense of competence. I'd rather have competence if my life were in danger.

Certainly governmental bureaucracy is nothing new, but when people *die* as a result, it has gone too far.

Really an excellent show. I dare say the best Frontline ever. The White House declined to be interviewed, as did one other agency, which I now forget. I believe you can watch the prgm online.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/storm/view/

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El_Pescador

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Re: WTF ???: Katrina specials bumped in Big Easy
Reply #4 - Nov 26^th, 2005 at 12:02pm

El_Pescador wrote on Nov 25^th, 2005 at 6:38pm:

"... I strongly suspect that if the currently "pissed-off" citizens of this region were absolutely convinced that a publicly-funded entity was pressured to suppress such presentations, there would be an uproar indeed..."

THEY DID IT AGAIN !!!

According to the TV schedule printed yesterday (November 25^th)in the New Orleans Times-Picayune and to the WLAE-TV website schedule, the NOVA presentation 'Storm that Drowned a City' was set to air at 10PM CST.

IT WAS BUMPED ONCE AGAIN BY A TOTALLY INANE PROGRAM

. This does give me pause, as I consider 10PM something less than PRIMETIME. Hmm, makes me wonder.

EP

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Re: WTF ???: Katrina specials bumped in Big Easy
Reply #5 - Nov 27^th, 2005 at 4:21pm

CORRECTIVE UPDATE !!!

According to unconfirmed reports, WYES-TV (Channel 12 in New Orleans) is operating from temporary studios in Baton Rouge and broadcasting the PBS Katrina specials right on schedule via Cox cable TV to Jefferson and the River Parishes. Orleans, Plaquemines and Saint Bernard Parishes currently have no cable TV service, and the Channel 12 tower remains out of service since the storm.

In the wake of Katrina, Charter Communications in the Florida Parishes (the region north of Lake Pontchartrain) no longer carries WYES-TV programming which results in its customers being short-changed as WLAE-TV (Channel 32 in Metairie) is avoiding duplication of the WYES-TV mainstream PBS programs.

Therefore, the onus is on Charter and not on WLAE-TV

.

EP

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