I think it would have been better to perhaps cancel and re-schedule...but there are a lot of good efforts with private industry jumping in to help with health related donations too. BD
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's main disaster-response agency apologized on Friday for having its employees pose as reporters in a hastily called news conference on California's wildfires that no news organizations attended. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, still struggling to restore its image after the bungled handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, issued the apology after The Washington Post published details of the Tuesday briefing.
But with no reporters on hand and an agency video camera providing a feed carried live by some television networks, FEMA press employees posed the questions for Johnson that included: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?" No actual reporter attended the news conference in person, agency spokesman Aaron Walker said.
According to Friday's Post account, which Walker confirmed, Johnson replied that he was "very happy with FEMA's response so far." A spokeswoman for Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who has authority over FEMA, called the incident "inexcusable and offensive to the secretary."
Reuters AlertNet - US agency apologizes for news conference on fires
0 comments :
Post a Comment