Covering Katrina and its aftermath has been a tremendous journalistic challenge. There are many examples of excellent coverage and personal courage. We have highlighted a few examples of the fine work of our Maynard alumni here. We know many of you are swamped but please continue to email us with links and a note about your work when you get a minute. We believe that these examples will show the industry what can be done under the most trying of conditions.
MESSAGE BOARDS: Feel free to post a comment on Hurricane Katrina media coverage and view those from others.
The Kansas City Star September 7, 2005 By Lewis W. Diuguid 1984 EPMJ Black and white people keep seeing different things in the news media’s aftermath coverage of Hurricane Katrina. (registration required)
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“African-Americans who were left behind in Mississippi and Louisiana were already suffering a hurricane of poverty. Katrina just knocked them down even more and peeled away the racism in America that decades earlier had left them stranded.” |
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Here is the link for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration required): STORM2005 Christopher Seward |
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The Town Talk August 31, 2005 By Sherri L.Brown-Jackson 2003 MTC Managing Editor The Town Talk People of color are hard hit and receiving a lot of help but people of color are also providing help, so I told my newsroom, "Don't just show them receiving, show them providing as well." |
“Until I heard from my family in Hammond, I walked around like a zombie. I tried very hard to appear as though everything was OK, but there were moments my heart felt as though it would collapse.” |
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Beyond that it is comprehensive wire coverage, along with information about fundraises and other "how-you-can-help" options for local citizens to lend a hand. Letters to the editor have also been numerous. You can see our stories and photos at www.mailtribune.com. Tarah Campi |
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Daily Press September 4, 2005 Wil LaVeist 92 EPMJ/2000 Cross Media We need to focus now on the thousands of people of different races reaching out to people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and showing amazing kindness. People of all races and backgrounds opening their homes, donating money and volunteering time.
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“As this tragedy continues to unfold, America's attitude toward its poor is what should become the focus. Pained black faces on TV screens complicate things because America is still less sympathetic to its darker brother. The deeper issue is class. Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans' 500,000 people were mostly poor.” |
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It seems the story fast became law enforcement's inability to maintain law and order during a catastrophe, rather than the story of utter human despair in America. |
“I worry about who is going to tell the story of the recovery effort and its impact on Black America. Will there be equal treatment, or no treatment at all, when federal and insurance dollars trickle in, whenever that is? ” |
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September 3, 2005 Orlando Sentinel By Tammy L. Carter 1989 MTC Could it be that the refugees are mostly black and poor? I can't help but wonder whether the response would have been quicker if most of the refugees were white middle-class Americans. A city so easy to love, a city with roots so strong, won't be kept down long Though it appears that Katrina has gotten the best of the city, don't count it out. Other places might not be strong enough to bounce back, but New Orleans can. |
“My husband, Keith, and I are from New Orleans. He was born there; I moved there as a teen- ager. That's why it's difficult to hear others talking about the city and assuming that most of its residents are looters and criminals.” |
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From Betty's, where the images flashed all day long on a TV screen, to barbershops and other
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“Those pictures have stunned South Florida's black community. And what's been seen as a lack of concern for those left behind speaks volumes about race and class, community members say, and provokes argument.” |
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