Xenophon Strategies

On Hurricane Irene, Media Hype Was Based in Reality

Josh Stewart

The Xenophon team has been very active in the past few days assisting The Salvation Army with their efforts to provide relief to individuals affected by Hurricane Irene.  Since the storm made landfall in North Carolina on Saturday, attention has also been given to the media establishment, with some minor backlash against how they reported on Hurricane Irene. 

Was there too much hype?  Was the media irresponsible? Did journalists overreact?

If you were watching the coverage you would probably think yes, the media over-reacted.  But Nate Silver, writerof the blog Five Thirty Eight at The New York Times takes a closer look.  Using data from news reports and traditional media search engines Mr. Silver comes to the conclusion that: 

• Hurricane Irene received the tenth most news coverage of any Atlantic hurricane since 1980 (based on traditional news hits).
• Hurricane Irene caused the tenth most fatalities of any Atlantic hurricane since 1980.
• As of right now the estimated $14 billion in damages rank Hurricane Irene as the eighth most economically devastating Atlantic hurricane since 1980.

The lessons of Hurricane Katrina weigh heavily on all of us, and perhaps some things could have been done better. It is not always helpful to have journalists wading through water in bright yellow rain coats, nor is it in our benefit to ignore the advice of weather and emergency preparedness professionals.  

Read the article over at fivethirtyeightblog.nytimes.com and post your thoughts on our Facebook page.   

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