(no subject)
CNN at night, on this story, is more interesting. I don't mean to imply that this situation is entertainment. But at night, the editing has been much looser. There haven't been nearly as many incoming reports of what's going on. It's hard to get "art" at night in a flooded city.
So things happen like I just watched: the anchor got into an argument with a reporter in Houston over his report. The reporter was reporting on a refugee bus that just got into Houston to the Astrodome. He interviewed a few people who were just arriving (including one magnificent, uncut, rambling interview of a young man who was completely exhausted and who, I imagine, never talks particularly quickly during normal life. The reporter couldn't elicit a "oh my god, it was horrible!" response from him...he said they were given food, he wasn't afraid for his safety, etc. He also gave a great quote: "I need a bed, I need a bath...I'm overdue for everything.") and found that at least some of the people on the bus were not from the Superdome. Also, the bus arrived sooner than they were expecting the Superdome buses.
The reporter speculated that the bus had been hijacked in New Orleans, or on the road, and these refugees had forced their way to Houston. The anchor suggested that whether or not they were in the Superdome, they were refugees and deserved to get out. No, no, this was an unauthorized bus ride. But an evacuee is an evacuee, no? Back and forth they went. It was very interesting. Usually an anchor feeds questions to a reporter. This was an out-and-out touchy conversation between two exhausted journalists.
Now the anchor is reporting that officials in Houston have declared this a renegade bus. But as she said before the break, these people seemed pretty exhausted and worn down. They were clearly victims of the disaster.
You're stuck in the flooded city. No food, no sanitation, no water. Folks with guns roaming around. A bus appears. What would you do?
Update: the two of them are still going at it, about 10 minutes after I posted this. This wouldn't happen during the day.