My parents in South Africa and my rugby friends in Australia said the media reports we were getting here in America had heavily downplayed the violence, looting, pilaging, rape and group muggings that they were watching on their TV's. They were shocked and appalled that this would go on in an American city. They also commented that all the crime reported was being committed by black people and that no other ethnic groups seemed to be involved.

I wondered why our OWN media would downplay this so much? Don't we deserve to know the reality of what is happening in our own country?

My only guess is that it was downplayed purely to avoid the obvious embarrassment that our nation would feel watching the behaviour of our fellow Americans in New Orleans. What do you guys think?