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Notes -
I think you need to refine your definition of “controlling the media.”
If you were expecting Katrina-level coverage, well, Asheville isn’t New Orleans. It has like 20% of the pre-Katrina population. While I’m sure they’re having a miserable time, the logistics are almost certainly much easier. Yes, the total strip of destruction is much larger, but density matters.
I have lots of family and friends in the Upstate. Most have power back already. People are driving to work. We aren’t looking at Katrina or Sandy levels of devastation.
That said—relief is happening and well-documented; it’s just on local stations or the groups involved. Twitter is the wrong place to look for anything other than spicy takes.
I fully agree on the point of scale, but I disagree that Katrina-level coverage was driven primarily be scale. Even within the context of Katrina, the primary media focus was on a Democratic political machine city in a form that was used as a political attack vector on a Republican president... which also helped deflect attention and blame from numerous local-level mismanagement issues within the responsibility of the political machine.
Media coverage levels are a function of the political alliances of the media in question. The political incentives in the current context would not support Katrina-level coverage even if there was Katrina-level damage.
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