I certainly don’t want to diminish the suffering the people with serious tree-related damage (like my girlfriend’s neighbor) or the thousands who are without electricity.
But as things turned out with our old friend Irene, it felt a little familiar. You know, the annual occurrence where the weathermen predict “doomsday” snow accumulations (2-4″), the grocery store ends up looking like this, and then we get a light dusting. Seriously, it takes a hurricane to make people eat their frozen vegetables?
In the Daily Beast, Howard Kurtz says that Hurricane Irene was the perfect storm of “scaremongering” by self-perpetuating media and politicians covering their own hides. Seems about right to me.
Since the media has been preoccupied, there isn’t a ton to share with you today. For example, 18 of the 20 stories on WAMU’s homepage this morning are about the hurricane. Here are a few things that managed to slip into the news cycle:
AGING | The AARP Foundation has announced a new grants program “to identify and fund innovative and strategic business models that begin to build a national network of employment and income support services that address the specific needs of unemployed workers age 50 and older.”
EDUCATION | Listen: Q&A With New Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr (WAMU, 8/29)
SOCIAL MEDIA | More Foundation CEO’s Start to Tweet (Chronicle, 8/26) Check out Tamara’s Twitter feed @WRAGprez.
In the lead up to the hurricane, Rose Ann Cleveland had the great suggestion of linking to this classic and relevant song. After the fact, I think we can also send this message to the media. Also, for the record, I’m glad things weren’t worse. I just don’t like being unnecessarily panicked by the media.
See you all tomorrow, hopefully with more news!
- Christian
