Remember the game “telephone”? You would whisper something to the person next to you, they would whisper it to the next person, and so-on? By the time it got to the end, it was almost nothing like what you started with?

(LA Times) Rumors supplanted accurate information and media magnified the problem. Rapes, violence and estimates of the dead were wrong.

Between local officials, and the Media’s lust for ratings; finding some truth in the immediate aftermath of Katrina seemed to be “Mission Impossible”. I highly suggest you read this article, then look back to the news outlets you used and trusted for information (to include Mayor Nagin and Oprah) that seemed to feed off the perverse desire of the public to believe the worst case scenario.