Nashville: Known for country music and… flooding? It seems like few people are talking about it and few news organizations are covering it. Even though over 20 inches of rain flooded this growing city, 30 people died, the clean up will cost billions, and the city will take years to recover. Normally, that is cause for major media coverage (remember the floods in Iowa a few years back?) Certainly, the flooding of Nashville and surrounding areas are not on par with the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but does that matter? Yes and no. No matter the disaster, people need help. No matter how great or small the loss of life, supplies and funds are needed.
It’s clear that this story has not been in the news that much. Did you know celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Nicole Kidman held a Nashville Flood Relief Telethon? Most did not see it or even hear about it. Did you know it could be one of the most expensive disasters in US history? With such a need for help in Nashville it is clear the message needs to get out. So, why haven’t we heard about the Nashville flood?
Here are three reasons why the Nashville flood went largely unnoticed by Americans and the media:
I started using Facebook shortly after I entered graduate school in 2003. I was a Myspace user, but often lamented Myspace’s messiness. It was limited. Some of my college friends began to use Facebook and I saw it as a way to stay in touch with people. Facebook looked clean, but it was confusing why I could see everyone’s business: who they talked to, what they posted, what they said, etc… We have seen Facebook evolve from a “college only” website to a global network of all ages. Facebook is ubiquitous. My parents, who are retired, even have a Facebook page! Some bloggers have even 
. I was in Pasadena for the American Baptist Churches Biennial and I could not believe the outpouring of interested in MJ’s death. As I walked around the streets of Pasadena, I heard the restaurants, shops, and stores playing every Michael Jackson song her produced. Normally, people only played “Thriller” during Halloween, but in Pasadena I must have heard it about 96 times in 3 days. I was in a session at my conference where the speaker was using Twitter.com and it was not working because people were blogging about MJ on Twitter, which shut the site down. The internet slowed down the day MJ died. Everyone who was at a computer was googling MJ.
8 children, because it has been the “hot” celebrity news item. I try not to give any attention to “celebrity news” because it is not real news. The Jon and Kate story is news worthy on this blog because they are professed Christians and their situation is putting Christianity to the test in the eyes of secular viewers. Part of the show contains scenes of the family going to church, memorizing scripture, and reading Bible stories. Recently, the couple has gone through a dark time in their relationship, which has made news in just about every news outlet. Allegations of infidelity have plagued the show since the start of season 5. Questions have been raised regarding the couple staying together.
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