FEMA workers masquerade as reporters
Employees asked questions at last minute California wildfire briefing

Updated: 1 hour, 16 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - One way to get decent coverage in this rough-and-tumble city is to arrange to have your own employees interrogate you at your news conference.
That would seem to be the strategy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, much maligned for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina over two years ago.
FEMA scheduled an early afternoon news briefing on only 15 minutes notice to reporters here Tuesday to talk about its handling of assistance to victims of wildfires that were ravaging much of Southern California.

But because there was so little advance notice for the event held by Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy FEMA administrator, the agency made available an 800 number so reporters could call in. And many did, although it was a listen-only arrangement.
At the news conference itself, some FEMA employees played the role of reporter, asking questions of Johnson - queries described as soft and gratuitous.
"I'm very happy with FEMA's response," Johnson said in reply to one query from a person who was an agency employee, not an independent journalist.
Asked about this, Mike Widomski, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs, said, "We had been getting mobbed with phone calls from reporters, and this was thrown together at the last minute."

Johnson issued a statement Friday saying that FEMA's goal was "to get information out as soon as possible, and in trying to do so we made an error in judgment."
"Our intent was to provide useful information and be responsive to the many questions we have received," he said. "We can and must do better."
The story was first reported in Friday's editions of The Washington Post.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21490838/

Par for the Course, nothing new here as far as I'm concerned.

How anyone can trust anything at all coming out of this Administration without even the hint of cursory scepticism is beyond me, but, in any case, to each his own.

"We had been getting mobbed with phone calls from reporters, and this was thrown together at the last minute."

Seems still to this day no one at FEMA knows how to plan ahead for even the most mundane of events, such as in this case the Press Conference, so, is it really any wonder why they fail so easily at so many other things?

gaaaa?

Did these people learn nothing from the WH Jeff Gannon/Guckert incident? That whole incident was very embarrassing for certain people you'd have think they'd learn the lesson.

Originally Posted by mmarsh

Did these people learn nothing from the WH Jeff Gannon/Guckert incident? That whole incident was very embarrassing for certain people you'd have think they'd learn the lesson.

Add to that the fact that FEMA Employees seem to be sitting around with nothing better to do other than wait to play Reporter if needed while Fires rage in California.

Another "Heckofajob Brownie" moment brought to you by the folks at FEMA.

you should trademark that.

Brown swears he was the scapegoat, which doesn't surprise me, but what was the head of the US Arabian Horse Association doing running FEMA anyway?

Chertoff blasts FEMA’s faux press conference
Calls agency’s use of fake reporters ‘one of the dumbest’ things he’s seen
Updated: 7:21 p.m. ET Oct 27, 2007
WASHINGTON - The homeland security chief on Saturday tore into his own employees for staging a phony news conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Michael Chertoff said.
"I have made unambiguously clear, in Anglo-Saxon prose, that it is not to ever happen again and there will be appropriate disciplinary action taken against those people who exhibited what I regard as extraordinarily poor judgment," he added.

Asked specifically if he planned to fire anyone at FEMA, which is part of his department, Chertoff declined to say, citing personnel rules.
"There will be appropriate discipline," he told reporters at a news conference with New York's governor where they announced an agreement on a driver's license plan.
Chertoff said he knew nothing about the matter until after it happened and that he "can't explain why it happened."
The White House on Friday scolded FEMA for the faux press conference about assistance to victims of wildfires in southern California.

The agency — much maligned for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina over two years ago — arranged to have FEMA employees play the part of reporters at the event Tuesday and question Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy director.
The questions were soft and gratuitous.
"I'm very happy with FEMA's response," Johnson said in reply to one query from an agency employee.
FEMA gave reporters only 15 minutes notice about Tuesday's news conference. But because of the short notice, the agency made available an 800 number so reporters could call in. Many did, although it was a listen-only arrangement.
Johnson said in a statement Friday that FEMA's goal was "to get information out as soon as possible and in trying to do so we made an error in judgment."
"Our intent was to provide useful information and be responsive to the many questions we have received," he said. "We can and must do better."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21490838/

Well, there's the word from on high.

In my opinion, just another house cleaning needed at FEMA, top to bottom, to include one Vice Admiral, who I feel needs to be reduced in Rank before he is shown the door.

We need to go to Alaska and declare independence.

In my honest opinion, get rid of FEMA. It's a entire waste of time and resources.

Originally Posted by 5.56X45mm

In my honest opinion, get rid of FEMA. It's a entire waste of time and resources.

God, I get shivers when you start to make sense.

It seriousness though FEMA as always been the dumping ground for all political hacks everywhere. No previous experience required.

The former head of FEMA's last job was 'President of the Arabian Horse Racing Federation'. I am sure the people who work for FEMA (the grunts) were perfectly competent but the first 3 levels of senior management needs to be fired and replaced with people who actually know something about Emergency Management or administration of a Government office.