Ray Malone's Commentary

There are a lot of them on the air... Sixty Minutes ;; 20/20 .. the Sunday Morning Journalism Shows... the Nightly News with segments devoted to investigative reporting... the 24/7 Cable News channels... How many hours of air time are devoted to investigative reporting? How many column inches of print are devoted to informing the public of all that is wrong with America.. and what needs to be fixed? How many thousand shows a year? How many column inches and how many air minutes are wasted on journalistic junk? How much media attention is given to things that can really cost lives?

The media over the years did a very few reports on the dangers New Orleans faced from severe hurricanes As far as the danger to New Orleans is concerned, our media can accurately be described as a huge pack of watch dogs that never barked above a whimper.

Where was the media! If they think it important to go after stories about what the Federal Reserve is doing, where were the daily reports.. week after week on the danger that could and did kill yet untold scores in Louisiana?

Over the air stations are licensed to serve in the public Interest, convenience, and necessity. Would it have been in the public Interest, convenience, and necessity for three major networks evening newscasts to have devoted some time to the danger facing New Orleans?

Can the Newspapers, Radio and TV stations in New Orleans plausibly say they were not aware of the danger that destroyed their town. Where were they when the public necessity was on the line. Where were the headlines pointing out the danger? Where were the reporter's that are crying about the failure of government when they should have been informing the public on the danger it faced? When program after program should have been playing the watch dog role of pointing out the danger to life and limb. The New Orleans media was out to lunch. Either that or the media is powerless to effect policy.

The media philosophy is If it bleeds it leads Does that mean they have NO motivation to prevent bleeding? If it does. they need to stop calling themselves watch dogs/

What was the main stream media doing when the Army Corp of Engineers was publishing report after report on the coming tragedy. There were reports... Yes many reports and warnings.... since the flooding of 1965. There were many reports urging action. None was taken. The watch dogs barely barked!

The media decides what will be covered. They decide what the public will know and to a large extent what stories get the attention of the public. Where were the media gurus?. Years devoted to covering stories as significant as "Cindy in the Ditch" is where they were. Putting down presidents and our nation is where they were.

Alerting us to real dangers? NO WAY!! The media behave like untrained hound dogs at best.. All they do is drool over the death and carnage. Their record proves they are not anything close to a well trained watch dog.

The press big wigs were covering how many naps Ronald Reagan took in office rather than pointing out real dangers. They were covering stories that claimed George H. W. Bush was a wimp. not pointing out real dangers. They covering Bill Clinton's latest trip to accomplish nothing, not covering real dangers.

Where did the Corp of Engineers reports on New Orleans and the hurricane danger rank compared to covering Hillary and Chelsea visiting Arafat in the middle east? They covered George W. Bush's National guard record and Kerry getting a hunting license in Ohio, but not the coming death and destruction in New Orleans. Yet the destruction of New Orleans was as certain as the passage of time.

Can anyone argue those inane stories were more deserving of a watch dog bark than the danger faced by New Orleans.

One thing for sure the media were not covering the danger faced by the citizens of New Orleans at even one ten thousandth the level they are covering the aftermath.

Does anyone actually believe that if the people of New Orleans has known their fate, they would not have prevented it? It could have been fixed at a cost of 50 dollars per resident for a period of 5 years. Where was that story on the Evening News? Where were the media microphones demanding action?

Why did our so called watch dogs fail to bark? We have all heard the media claim to be the peoples watch dog. They have proved they are not.

Today the self proclaimed watch dogs stand in the center of terrible situation in New Orleans pointing fingers at politicians.

What kind of watch dog sleeps through the warning period and then blames the home owner for not defeating the murderous intruder? What kind of watch dog only shows up after the the family home has been destroyed.

Those that show up to cover the death and carnage are not watch dogs. Most might say they resemble Vultures a lot more than Watch Dogs.

Watch dogs to point out danger. ..and do what they can to make us aware. Vultures only show up to enjoy the carnage.

What do you do when you find out your watch dog is really a vulture? Most people would get new watchdogs... What do you want to bet the Vultures in watch dog clothing will only spend time blaming others for their failure to bark.

If the media wants to know who to blame for the Death and Destruction in Louisiana. They should start by looking in the mirror.