Katrina And The Birth Of Urban Myths

We’ve all heard the reports of rape, murder, and mayhem occurring throughout New Orleans and especially in the Superdome in the aftermath of Katrina. Conditions are abominable in the city. Putrid, filthy water is everywhere. Sanitation is still mostly non-existent. These conditions are a breeding ground for disease. But these conditions are also a breeding ground for urban myths.

Some of the stories coming out of New Orleans are beyond shocking. There have been reports of babies’ throats being slit, 7-year-old girls being raped, police running over a black teenager and then getting out of their squad car and shooting the youth in the head.

The problem with all these stories is that none are yet substantiated. And while many have claimed that these events did happen, so far, no witnesses, survivors or survivors' relatives have come forward to authenticate any of these reports. But they are spreading throughout the city and across the Internet faster than the Black Death did across Europe.

You are witnessing the birth of urban myths. While no one is denying that many atrocities were perpetrated in the days following the flooding on the city facts seems unimportant in the face of a groundswell of innuendo and rampant rumor. People want to believe what they want to believe, truth be damned.

I predict that in a couple of months a steady stream of these myths will begin to show up in your email inboxes telling the tales of woe that someone heard from a friend of a friend or a second cousin twice removed or better still names of ‘witnesses’ will be included. “It’s got to be true, there were witnesses; the email said so!” I’m just letting you know now so you won’t be surprised when it happens, and it will happen I assure you. When it does, visit snopes.com. A good 90% of the bunk that populates your inbox can be de-bunked by a quick visit to this site.

The hallmark of any reporter worth their salt is that they verify the facts BEFORE they file a report. I encourage bloggers and those with an email account to do the same BEFORE they pass on the gossip that passes for truth that will show up in your inbox some morning in early November.

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Mark Cross for the Supremacy in Blogcasting Network

This article originally appeared @ PoserPundit.com

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Article Author: Mark Cross

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