Following Irene has made me doubt the news more than I usually do.
Now I kept up on Irene news because A) I knew people out that way, B) It was going to hit several population areas, C) This stuff is always disruptive. I was pleased that the disaster didn't seem to be as bad as it could be . . .
In some ways.
Oh, sure we didn't get any Michael Bay-like disasters. But as I kept following the fallout – mostly due to my friends – I realized the news has botched this badly. Yes, there's nothing cinematic, yes the body count was thankfully low, but it seems the news media is really missing the extent of the damage.
For instance I got a good overview of some of the floods affecting thousands because I was news and blogsurfing. I got lucky.
Or there are the stories told to me by my friends out that way, stories of ruined parks and stranded people and lost property. I feel like the news lost the thread here because . . . well I don't know. Wasn't spectacular enough I suppose.
Seriously, news organizations, you're dropping the ball as far as I'm concerned – and we've got a hell of a lot more to follow than Irene. There's financial meltdowns, environmental issues, and far more.
And people wonder why I'm big on news feeds – it's because there's so much to keep track of, I have to combine things so I'm not as affected when someone drops the ball.