Media Reactions to "Doomsday Preppers"

I have to admit that I have not watched National Geographic's "Doomsday Preppers" but it, along with the upcoming "Doomsday Bunkers" on the Discovery Channel have generated some rather mixed media buzz.

As would be expected, the New York Times mocks the show and preppers generally. The author writes:

Watch either show for a short while and, unless you’re a prepper yourself, you might be moderately amused at the absurd excess on display and at what an easy target the prepper worldview is for ridicule. Watch a bit longer, though, and amusement may give way to annoyance at how offensively anti-life these shows are, full of contempt for humankind.

His main criticism is that, based on what the show portrays, preppers are too white, and have too many guns and are too willing to use them. Unlike the rest of the world, he hasn't figured out that "reality TV" is not actually based on, ya know, reality.

This article from Examiner.com is more positive:

National Geographic’s “Doomsday Preppers” was going to be an entertaining show to watch, this was the first thought that many had as they sat down to watch it for the first time a few weeks ago when it made its debut. Who are these people and what are they thinking? This is the mindset of many who tuned in to see what this show was all about? While prepping for the unexpected is not a new concept, Click 2 Houston reports that the official network of American Preppers is boosting more than 3 million people. This is in contrast to a couple of hundred thousand just a few years ago.

When viewers sat down and watched “Doomsday Preppers” for the first time, they didn’t find the “hillbilly’s” they expected to see practicing this preparedness for a catastrophe. Instead of an entertainment value, many got an educational awareness out of it. This push on prepping for a doomsday scenario isn’t just encompassed by people living off the beaten track in rural areas that don’t get many visitors. People preparing for this possibility live next door to you in your Manhattan loft or in the suburban miniature mansion two doors down in Fairfield County. They are just like you, doctors, lawyers, teachers, construction workers and homemakers who plant a bomb shelter or a panic room on their premises “just in case.” The Orange County Register recently wrote that the "new National Geographic show might not be so crazy after all." This is what people who tune in are finding out.

And the Hawaii News Daily actually has an op-ed from a prepper.

Although not specifically mentioning the show, this article from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel takes a more objective view on preppers.