2008 Woodie Awards
Can we ever trust FEMA again?
Angela Langster
Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
On Oct. 24, the Federal Emergency Management Agency held a press conference to discuss what if any assistance would be provided to the victims of the devastating Southern California wildfires. For once, FEMA was at least responding to an urgent emergency, but the press conference that occurred has put this agency under hot water again because it was all fake.
Some FEMA agents posed as reporters to ask questions to the agency's deputy director, Harvey E. Johnson. Meanwhile, the real reporters that we supposed to be in attendance were only notified of this press conference 15 minutes in advance. Since the notification was at the last minute the reporters had to call in, listen and not even ask questions, since the conference was set up as a listen-only session. This conference was so urgent that even the White House itself was not aware of the press conference occurring, according to CNN. Since then an apology has been issued by FEMA, promising that the miscommunication won't occur ever again, but the question at large is: "Can FEMA, whose image is already somewhat tarnished from their response to Hurricane Katrina, not to mention this debacle , be trusted by the American people?" Also, what lessons can be learned from this which FEMA can apply to their agency?
What kind of message was FEMA sending to people that are pursuing careers in journalism, notifying reporters that they have only 15 minutes notice of a press conference, knowing well that most of them were not able to appear in person? Yes, they were trying to get answers to a variety of questions about the California wildfires out to the American people, but since news of this has been prevalent over the past week, this press conference could have been held in legitimate purposes as soon as it was all announced.
Another reason why this recent error in FEMA's judgement is outrageous is because it was disrespectful to the real reporters whose job is to get the information that's needed to the people in a timely matter. Journalism is a competitive industry in the government. If FEMA had held an actual real news conference with real reporters answering real questions pertaining to an ongoing emergency, it would have been at least a step in the right direction and would have shown that they learned from their mistakes in the past, but unfortunately this did not occur.
So if FEMA is really adamant about having the American people trust them in the near future when there is an emergency on a major scale, then it would be best advised for them to leave the fake news to Comedy Central and stick to their day job of assisting Americans during times of major emergency crises.
After all, emergency management is their duty to the people, and they have an obligation to fulfill this duty.
Some FEMA agents posed as reporters to ask questions to the agency's deputy director, Harvey E. Johnson. Meanwhile, the real reporters that we supposed to be in attendance were only notified of this press conference 15 minutes in advance. Since the notification was at the last minute the reporters had to call in, listen and not even ask questions, since the conference was set up as a listen-only session. This conference was so urgent that even the White House itself was not aware of the press conference occurring, according to CNN. Since then an apology has been issued by FEMA, promising that the miscommunication won't occur ever again, but the question at large is: "Can FEMA, whose image is already somewhat tarnished from their response to Hurricane Katrina, not to mention this debacle , be trusted by the American people?" Also, what lessons can be learned from this which FEMA can apply to their agency?
What kind of message was FEMA sending to people that are pursuing careers in journalism, notifying reporters that they have only 15 minutes notice of a press conference, knowing well that most of them were not able to appear in person? Yes, they were trying to get answers to a variety of questions about the California wildfires out to the American people, but since news of this has been prevalent over the past week, this press conference could have been held in legitimate purposes as soon as it was all announced.
Another reason why this recent error in FEMA's judgement is outrageous is because it was disrespectful to the real reporters whose job is to get the information that's needed to the people in a timely matter. Journalism is a competitive industry in the government. If FEMA had held an actual real news conference with real reporters answering real questions pertaining to an ongoing emergency, it would have been at least a step in the right direction and would have shown that they learned from their mistakes in the past, but unfortunately this did not occur.
So if FEMA is really adamant about having the American people trust them in the near future when there is an emergency on a major scale, then it would be best advised for them to leave the fake news to Comedy Central and stick to their day job of assisting Americans during times of major emergency crises.
After all, emergency management is their duty to the people, and they have an obligation to fulfill this duty.
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