From the moment Katrina made landfall the media focused 
    on anything that could redound to the detriment of 
    President Bush or inflame race and class tensions. 
    Reporters and commentators ignored the dismal performance 
    of New Orleans’ Democratic mayor and Louisiana’s 
    Democratic governor, blaming every problem that arose on 
    the Bush administration.

    Racial demagogues accused Bush and his administration of 
    reacting slowly because most of the victims were black. 
    Environmental activists said Bush’s refusal to sign the 
    Kyoto Treaty caused Katrina’s severity. Democratic 
    operatives said the administration’s decision to cut 
    funding for a long-term study of flood control caused the 
    levees to breach.

    All of this is stuff and nonsense. The tragedy is that 
    the media know it too, but they still printed it.

    The story line today is that things were self-evidently 
    so catastrophic as Katrina made landfall that everyone 
    knew that drastic measures were called for. But was that 
    the case? Here’s what The News & Observer of Raleigh’s 
    public editor, Ted Vaden, wrote on Sunday: 

        “The N&O, like many other papers, was slow to wake up 
        to the dimensions of the crisis but gradually ramped 
        up the coverage in terms of space and reporters 
        committed to the story,” he wrote. “The media were 
        fooled the first day of the hurricane, when Katrina 
        didn’t make a direct hit on New Orleans as 
        expected. ‘I think that everybody got a head fake 
        from this thing,’ said Dan Barkin, deputy managing 
        editor. ‘I think we were kind of lulled.’”

    Vaden pointed out that “the follow-up coverage on 
    Wednesday likewise was restrained.” This candid 
    assessment pretty much reflects the way most of the media 
    covered the storm at the beginning. It was only after the 
    incompetence of the mayor of New Orleans and the state’s 
    governor in not forcing a pre-storm evacuation that the 
    extent of the human tragedy unfolded. But instead of 
    reporting this truth, it became a Bush bash fest.

    And it continues. An Associated Press report from this 
    morning was headlined: “Bush finally spending time on 
    hurricane relief.” Finally. That’s the template word now. 
    I saw that one coming Friday afternoon when I heard it 
    used at least 10 times on National Public Radio to 
    describe Bush’s actions regarding the hurricane. 

    Polls show that, unlike the media, the public does not 
    blame Bush for the hurricane, the rioting, the looting, 
    the stranded pets, the drowning deaths or the levee 
    breaks. That means that the public doesn’t believe what 
    the media are reporting. That’s the real gathering storm.