Hurricane Ian: How is this Political?
Hurricane Ian is expected to make landfall in Florida sometime between late Wednesday or early Thursday morning. This storm is setting up to be the first major hurricane of the year as it has the potential to reach a category 5. The sunshine state has already gone into a state of emergency, requiring mandatory evacuations for many residents.
"More than 2.5 million are under evacuation orders in Central Florida ahead of Hurricane Ian, which is expecting to make landfall on the west coast of the state on Wednesday evening." (Haddad, 2022).
The possible destruction of this hurricane has many people in a state of panic. Showing their fear, many have taken to Tik Tok to share their evacuation strategies.
So, How is this political?
As I was scrolling through different sources, looking for something interesting to blog about, I came across the same kind of information regarding the hurricane. Mostly, it's informational as it is updated constantly with the newest incoming news. However, one source had a headline that stuck out to me.
"Joe Biden Won’t Talk to the Governor of Florida with a Hurricane Coming"
This headline is from National Review, who wasted no time in connecting politics to a hurricane of all things.
Basically all news sources, such as Buzzfeed News, Fox News, The Guardian and more have set aside most politics to keep their viewers updated. National Review did not seem to get that memo.
The only article from them is the one named above; it has a lot to say, but not about Ian.
The topic here is that President Biden has not reached out to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
As said by Business Insider, “Presidents and governors typically hold a phone call at a time of natural disasters so presidents can offer federal support and bipartisanship.”
This is wondered to be a matter of political difference between our democratic president and the republican governor. A comparison was made from another major natural disaster, Hurricane Maria in 2017. Donald Trump, a well-known republican, did make a call to Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rossello. Backlash occurred when the President failed to come to the island for the recovery process.
National Review may still be holding some grudges and did not want to see this "hypocrisy" go to waste.
Whether this story was created as a jab to the current President or just another ways to get views is up for debate.
To Round this up...
Journalist have an important job, to find and send out important information to their viewers. Regardless of political views, this storm will affect the lives of many people. Keeping people informed and updated will be key in aiding to the preparation actions and recovery processes come this weekend. Journalist also have a stressful job in keeping their viewers through jaw-dropping stories and constant drama. The balance between both can be a fine line at times like this.
What do you think? Was this article inappropriate at a time like this or was it important enough to make the front page? Please let me know that and anything else down below.
References
Leonard, Kimberly. “Biden Has Called Three Florida Mayors - but Not Gov. Ron DeSantis - to Talk about Hurricane Ian.” Business Insider, Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-hasnt-phoned-desantis-on-hurricane-ian-as-storm-nears-florida-2022-9.
McLaughlin, Dan. “Joe Biden Won't Talk to the Governor of Florida with a Hurricane Coming.” National Review, National Review, 27 Sept. 2022, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/joe-biden-wont-talk-to-the-governor-of-florida-with-a-hurricane-coming/.
Haddad, Ken. “Full List of Mandatory Evacuations in Florida for Hurricane Ian: Check It Here, Find Your Zone.” WDIV, WDIV ClickOnDetroit, 27 Sept. 2022, https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/national/2022/09/27/full-list-of-mandatory-evacuations-in-florida-for-hurricane-ian-check-it-here-find-your-zone/.
While looking for topics to cover for my blog I was trying to find something related to hurricane Ian. I find it very interesting the differences in communication when it comes to Democratic and Republican leaders. I don't know if Joe Biden has visited Puerto Rico but I saw that he is heavily involved on helping them recover from the hurricane already which is good news. Though I am not a big fan of former President Donald Trump thinking about it now I don't think him visiting Puerto Rico or not was a big deal in the scheme of things, from what I remember he did do things to help them which is what matters. It seems like some news articles are just trying to make the hurricane matter political when in hindsight politics has nothing to do with a hurricane. Great analysis of the events that have unfolded thus far!
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how we politicize everything in today's society. When it comes to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, I wish we could put politics behind us and just prioritize being good people. Of course, this is not the case and every dollar sent to help relieve victims of this disaster and to rebuild infrastructure will be under scrutiny. I think you did a great job of keeping your personal opinion out of this post and just providing facts, which is important for us to do in Communications most of the time. Overall, it's important that we keep these people in our thoughts and prayers and extend as much support as possible. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHey Morgan! I also used this article in one of my blog posts and I honestly thought the whole thing was pretty funny. It still baffles me that people try and make natural disasters a political matter. Not one person in this world can control hurricanes and it confuses me how people like to tie in politics to it. Like the Covid-19 pandemic, it became so politicized that people began to overlook it and even sometimes not believe in it. You did an excellent job of keeping your opinion out of the article and sticking to just the facts. Overall, great post!
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