How LUCKY is this person?

[ChadTower]

(CNN) -- An American woman who was scuba diving with her husband in Thailand as one of Sunday's tsunamis roared overhead said she was oblivious to the disaster until after they surfaced, her mother told CNN on Tuesday.


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/28/tsunami.diver/index.html

EDIT:  Of course, now that I've read the whole article, it's nice how they used it to take shots at the US rather than focusing on the astronomical improbability of their survival.  That's just good reporting.

Oh wait, it's not.

[RacerX]

WOW.   

You aren't kidding.

[Hoagie_one]

maybe its because, thats teh way it happened.

The US isnt perfect.  Why is it when ever someone points it out....we chastize them for it.

[danny_galaga]

um, isn't CNN american?

[ChadTower]

maybe its because, thats teh way it happened.

The US isnt perfect.

[walls83]

That is just horrid writing.

[Dartful Dodger]

um, isn't CNN american?

The Clinton News Network isn't American.

[danny_galaga]

um, isn't CNN american?

The Clinton News Network isn't American.

hehe. it IS pretty tardy reporting i'll give you that...

[patrickl]

Well it's pretty sad to charge people who just lost all there possesions for new photo's. I'd say that bit of disrespect is noteworthy enough. But then it's common knowledge that US officicals are among the worst in the world (try being a foreigner going through US customs or trying to get a visa into the US). So it's no surprise that in this case they sucked allthough in this case americans themselves got faced with the rudeness of their officials.

[ChadTower]

Well it's pretty sad to charge people who just lost all there possesions for new photo's. I'd say that bit of disrespect is noteworthy enough. But then it's common knowledge that US officicals are among the worst in the world (try being a foreigner going through US customs or trying to get a visa into the US). So it's no surprise that in this case they sucked allthough in this case americans themselves got faced with the rudeness of their officials.

I'm an immigrant to the US.  I know exactly how they are.  I wouldn't have a problem with a story on that.  Maybe they should write one.  What I don't want to see is them spending 80% of an article about something else taking shots at said officials.  If you want to take shots, write an article to take shots.  Don't 'hide' it in another article about something positive.

[saint]

I read the article. The thrust of the article was the eyewitness account. The problem they had with getting their passport photos was part of their eyewitness account. Should they have dropped that part? I dunno - I don't believe so as that seems an unbelievable requirement under the circumstances to me - but it was by no means a sideswipe thrown in just to slam the United States. It was part of the eyewitnesses' story.

Also on CNN's front page today:
- Bush announcing tsunami coalition.

- An article responding to the "stingy" comment.

- A breakdown of 30 places to help/donate

- An article on world relief efforts, including the United States donating the largest amount to date

- An article where people can email their requests for information about loved ones

None of these articles taking a swipe at our country, in fact for the most part they seemed to be... dare I say it ... fair and balanced. I particularly liked the part where they pointed out the $241 billion in private donations the US has given to charitable causes in 2003, that isn't counted in the figure that's based on GNP.

It never ceases to amaze me how virulent poeple can be against CNN, taking a particular piece they don't agree with and slamming the organization as a whole. It's kind of like someone slamming the U.S. for a particular policy/action, and ignoring the good we do the world in whole. Yeah, CNN has a more liberal bias than Fox News. Alternatively, Fox News has a more conservative bias than CNN. Neither bias precludes either orgniazation from being fair and accurate reporters of news. I believe it was a similar argument made not too long ago stating that Kathleen Harris could still do a fair job of running the Florida election despite her Republican bias. (That's not a slam against Ms. Harris before anyone jumps on it, it's a comparison between two similar lines of reasoning on the validity of someone's work in conjunction with their moral/political bias).

Here's a question: Had CNN made a separate article about requiring money for passport photos, would they have received less grief about it, or more for focusing an entire article on it? We'll never know of course, but I know which way I'd bet. I expect the only way they could avoid ire over mentioning the payment requirement would be to not mention it at all.

Personally I think it was more appropriate as part of the eyewitness account than meriting an entire article and making a bigger issue of it than it warrants.

--- saint

[shmokes]

Saint, your name is well deserved.  CNN's "liberal bias" isn't even remotely like the blatant conservative spin machine that is Fox News.  I, however, am anything but a saint and I come in here and throw wood on the fire instead.   

[rchadd]

chadtower suggest you get that big chip off your shoulder