Chapter 5. Meaning-making in Crisis: The detrimental effects of missing narratives and escalating blame games
New Orleans did not look good in the media. Reporting emphasized looting, violence, suffering – in short, anarchy. The key players – President Bush, DHS’s Michael Chertoff, FEMA’s Michael Brown, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin – appeared weak and uninformed. To make things worse, they began to blame each other for the poor response. This chapter analyzes how a good start in the week quickly turned into a collective meaning-making failure.
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