Hurricane Katrina Coverage

Misconceptions, mistakes magnified a tragedy
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)

“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.”

Being part of the daily discussion of what we cover day in and day out and not being marginalized, that's the biggest contribution I can make. Discussing how we move forward is as just as important as pointing at one specific thing.

Here is the link for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration required): STORM2005

Christopher Seward
1997 MTC/1984 EPMJ
City Editor
AJC

Curtis Compton / AJC Spc. Glenn Cummings, 41, of Smyrna, with the 190th MP company, Georgia National Guard, washes his face after pulling guard duty in the St. Bernard Parish of New Orleans on Thursday.

Jackson: It's a family thing
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.”

Given our location (across the country from the Gulf Coast) and our size, my newspaper has relied on wire coverage for most news relating to the storm. We have had several local stories, however, on a Southern Oregon National Guard unit that is helping out in New Orleans. Hundreds of soldiers and thousands of dollars in supplies and donations -- everything from hospital supplies to a water-purification system -- began heading to the area this week.

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
2005 Editing Program
Mail Tribune copy desk

(Jim Craven / Mail Tribune) Lt. Paul Dyer, who lives in Portland but is part of the Oregon Army National Guard unit out of Grants Pass, rides an airboat through flooded New Orleans streets checking water levels.

Katrina left frustration, yes - but also kindness
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.

“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.”

Here's our contribution:

www.DallasNews.com/katrina

In addition, some of the most dramatic images have been taken by Dallas Morning News photographers. All can be found here:

http://www.dallasnews.com/photography

Oscar Martinez
2001 Cross Media
Senior Editor | Interactive/Publishing
DallasNews.com

(Michael Mulvey / DMN) Bishop DeBruce Nelson, pastor of the Lighthouse Apostolic Church in Biloxi, talks on his phone trying to get help for Ms. Smith.

Media Hurricane is Spinning Out of Control
The Louisiana Weekly
September 7, 2005
By Dwight Cunningham
1984 EPMJ/1991 MTC
NNPA Special Contributor

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? ”

Why was relief so long in coming?
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
September 4, 2005

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.”

Race & Rescue: Blacks Ponder Response
Color, Class Affected Efforts, Residents Say
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 3, 2005
By Gregory Lewis
1994 TCC

From Betty's, where the images flashed all day long on a TV screen, to barbershops and other
black listening posts, the sight of those stranded and suffering in New
Orleans took over conversations.

“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.”