Paul Harris is leading his KMOX show this afternoon at 2 p.m. with a discussion of the media's coverage of the coal mine disaster. I'll be on with Brian Stelter of TVNewser and later on, Harris will chat with Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher, who also critiqued the media coverage.
Update: Audio is posted.
I live in Summersville, West Virginia 84 miles from Sago Mine. At least 3 members of this community are employed at that mine.
Everyone is reeling from this tragedy.
People who know mining business tell me this is not a surprise, they could see it coming. Fines are next to nothing, miners are afraid to speak out - I live here and so do these experts.
To comment on your article, I drove up there on Jan. 3, 2006. I was told no media wanted (I was not media) but that was what was being enforced supposedly -- I watched with surprise when a Red Cross worker ran to CNN's Anderson Cooper with news and later he thanked a Red Cross volunteer for all the food provided to him.
I don't know where the blame lies in this miscommunication but this media business seems to have a Hollywood flair to it now and everyone wants a piece of it (right or wrong). I was told by State Policeman there, the media had been aggressive and rude in this case.
I don't need to go on with this -- I just want to say what we really need is responsible journalism especially for people like me who lives in a remote section of West Virginia and depend on those journalists to keep me informed as to what is happening out there in the real world.
Thank you for your time.
Betty Dotson-Lewis
Summersville, West Virginia
Posted by: Betty Dotson-Lewis | January 06, 2006 at 01:59 PM