Washington Post ombudsman responds to my question re: why no death toll?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

My original email:

Are any news organizations tracking the toll of dead and missing from Katrina?

Dear Sir,

As I've followed news coverage through September, it seems strange to me that I rarely see any mention of an ongoing toll of dead and missing from the Hurricane Katrina calamity in New Orleans and the Gulf region. Is there a conscious effort by major news organizations to stay away from this story?

Is the American news media waiting for numbers to come from FEMA and other federal organizations?

It seemed like after other major disasters like 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, death toll numbers were updated and reported daily. While this information would understandably be more difficult to come by with Hurricane Katrina, there should at least be a good indication of how many family members have missing relatives, etc. in addition to those already confirmed dead.

Mayberry Machiavelli

Reply:

Mr. Mayberry Machiavelli:

The Washington Post has been routinely reporting the death toll from
Hurricane Katrina, based on the numbers provided by Louisiana officials in
Baton Rouge. Initially, the number was hard come by. But for several weeks
it was updated daily. Now, a month after the event, the number is not
updated as often. Last week it was 841 in Louisiana, which we published in
a story on Sept. 26. The numbers do not come from FEMA but from state
authorities.

Dan LeDuc
Deputhy National Editor
The Washington Post

[knowbody0]

1. logic tells us those "missing" are no doubt drowned

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

2. Right but their "death toll" is presumably only the confirmed dead,

and will likely exclude a huge number of "missing".

That's why I'm wondering, who if anyone is tracking the number of "missing" in the Gulf?

[halobeam]

3. And NOONE will say this on the MSM??

I'm not questioning you directly... it's just incredible that this isn't discussed in the news. Not Keith Olberman, Anderson Cooper, anyone who has been consistently honest with their viewers.

Didn't Anderson say, right before he left NO that, he hopes NO isn't dropped in the news. By that, I do think he meant, REAL news, not just that everything will be oky-doky, but to report the reality.