Brendan Loy

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Brendan Loy is an American blogger and law clerk who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife and daughter.[1] While Loy was earning a law degree at the University of Notre Dame, his blog, then entitled The Irish Trojan's Blog, gained attention on the internet and mainstream media. Loy's vigorous blogging on Hurricane Katrina, particularly urging evacuations at a time when local authorities had not yet acted and much of the national media was still largely focused on threats to Florida rather than Louisiana, resulted in coverage by several media sources.

Though he does not have any formal meteorological training, Loy is a self-admitted "hurricane buff" and "weather nerd." He was a finalist for The Week magazine's "Blogger of the Year" for 2005.[2]

Loy is a native of Newington, Connecticut. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2003. Loy's blog is now titled Irish Trojan in Tennessee.

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[edit] Hurricane Katrina coverage

At 1:57 p.m. on Friday, August 26, 2005, nearly two days before Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans issued a mandatory evacuation of the city, Loy wrote, "At the risk of being alarmist, we could be 3-4 days away from an unprecedented cataclysm that could kill as many as 100,000 people in New Orleans...If I were in New Orleans, I would seriously consider getting the hell out of dodge right now, just in case."[3] Later that day, Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit linked to Loy's site, causing thousands of people—including some in the New Orleans area—to view his warnings. Loy's site became increasingly heavily trafficked as Katrina approached and eventually made landfall, and ultimately became the "most frequently cited hurricane-related blog" for Katrina-related coverage, according to Intelliseek's Blogpulse.[4]

In the aftermath of the storm, Loy's posts describing Katrina's potential devastation were cited by some journalists investigating what some saw as a slow and inadequate government response to Katrina. However, Loy and many others argued repeatedly that lack of preparedness and proactive solutions in advance of the storm were far more damaging than any negligent or mismanaged response. Though Loy freely admits that he merely acted as a conduit of information readily obtainable from the National Weather Service, Accuweather, and other sources, Loy was nonetheless the subject of articles in The New York Times,[5] The Washington Post,[6] and the Associated Press,[7] covered by Slate's Mickey Kaus,[8] and he appeared on MSNBC[9] and the national syndicated Hugh Hewitt radio show, among others.

Although some journalists and blog visitors credited Loy with "predicting" Katrina's path, he pointed out repeatedly[10][11] that the information was already available from sources such as the National Hurricane Center and many respected meteorologists, and he merely passed that information along to his readers. Loy has also relayed the theory, espoused by prominent meteorologists [12] that, but for a last-minute shift in the storm's path, Katrina's eye would have passed directly over downtown New Orleans, causing even more extensive damage and deaths approaching or exceeding 100,000, as had been predicted for years by weather experts.[13]

Loy was featured in Spike Lee's HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, premiered in August of 2006.[14]

[edit] Other media attention

The Irish Trojan's Blog has received media attention outside of Hurrican Katrina coverage. Loy's blog was featured in a South Bend Tribune article on local bloggers.[15] Loy and the The Irish Trojan's Blog have been linked to by Michelle Malkin, Instapundit and other sites for topics including sports, popular culture, and politics. Loy also authored a piece for Sports Illustrated on Campus entitled "The Perfect Bracket: How to come out on top in your NCAA tournament pool."[16]

Loy worked for the Daily Trojan during his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California, but Loy states that he was "forced to resign" from an editorial position. Loy has not stated the reasons for his resignation.[17][18]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Irish Trojan in Tennessee: About Me
  2. ^ The Week magazine bios for "Blogger of the year finalists
  3. ^ Loy's 8/26/2005 Katrina warning
  4. ^ Intelliseek's Blogpulse lists Irish Trojan Blog as the "most frequently cited hurricane-related blog" for Katrina-related coverage
  5. ^ "A 'Weather Nerd' in Indiana Sent a Warning to the Mayor", New York Times, September 5, 2005
  6. ^ "Brendan Loy, the Guy of The Storm", The Washington Post, October 23, 2005
  7. ^ 'Weather nerd' attracts attention after predicting Katrina disaster, Associated Press, September 7, 2005
  8. ^ Mickey Kaus (September 2, 2005) "Loy's blog for the past week is a pretty extraordinary document. It should maybe be in the Smithsonian, if you can put a blog in the Smithsonian." [1]
  9. ^ Video of MSNBC appearance, The Irish Trojan's Blog
  10. ^ "Another radio interview", The Irish Trojan's Blog
  11. ^ "Welcome, HBO viewers!", The Irish Trojan's Blog
  12. ^ "Looking Back", The Irish Trojan's Blog
  13. ^ "The Big One", 2002 series in The Times-Picayune on the hurricane threat to New Orleans
  14. ^ "Internet Movie Database"
  15. ^ South Bend Tribune article on local bloggers
  16. ^ "The Perfect Bracket: How to come out on top in your NCAA tournament pool", Sports Illustrated on Campus, March 28, 2006
  17. ^ "Becky and Toby Flood the Zone", The Irish Trojan's Blog
  18. ^ "Heads Must Roll", The Irish Trojan's Blog

[edit] External links