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MAINSTREAMHurricane Katrina Coverage

WHAT IS NEWSWORTHY?CNN posted this article the early morning of August 31, 2005--two days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Though the article covers the catastrophic and deadly impact of the hurricane in detail, the very first paragraph, as well as mixed in to the rest of the article, and CNN’s “QuickVote” are dedicated to looting.

“CNN’s coverage of

Katrina and the aftermath won a 2006 Peabody Award, the

oldest honor in electronic

media”

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Although I was only 11 years old on September 11, 2001, I remember the entire day almost perfectly. So why, at 15 years old on August 29, 2005, can I only remember the looting during Hurricane Katrina?

I have to admit a long period of ignorance surrounding Hurricane Katrina. It was not until my sister, Lacey, joined Americorps in 2009 and took on a project in New Orleans (helping rebuild a city still in desperate need of help four years later) that I would finally begin to understand what really happened during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Growing up in a fairly racially intolerant family (mine and Lacey’s higher education has since improved the way my family views the world, though it is still not without flaws), during the coverage of Hurricane Katrina, my parents were often outraged by the looting that was going. “Can’t they just behave themselves?” my mother would blurt out in anger. As far as the stories of looting, however, I had absolutely no idea what was going on; no one talked to me about it.

I never, however, had any shortage of knowledge about the terrorist attacks of September 11,2001. My sixth grade teacher sat the class down and explained that the World

Trade Center was gone, my therapist asked me if I was feeling okay in light of what had happened, my mother gripped me tightly, sobbing, saying that everything would be okay, and my neighbor assured me that this would be the start of World War III--all in the first day. In the years that would follow, the media would be in a frenzy on every single anniversary presenting startling images of the attack. Where was the media coverage for Katrina?

When Lacey brought home Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke for my parents to watch after her trip to New Orleans, I finally saw my mother break down in tears and cry out, “Those poor people.” With access to only the mainstream media’s narrative (neither of my parents continued on to higher education), I can’t exactly blame them for their one-dimensional view of Hurricane Katrina. The narrative the mainstream media used so much capital, influence, and political motivation to construct was simply too attractive to deny.

Sadly, some of the media’s biases toward New Orleans have stuck--despite obtaining a more multi-faceted view of Hurricane Katrina. My mother still worries about my sister getting raped or murdered down in New Orleans in a way that she never worried when my sister lived in Rochester--despite similar levels of crime.

LOOTERS BEWARE

Rethinking Our Cultural Narratives

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Which narrative was more “important” to the media?

Unbalanced CoverageNot only was Sept 11th more clear in my mind than Hurricane Katrina because of the quality of the stories told but because of the sheer quantity. Political interest, racism, classism, and nationalism all seem to play into which narrative is more “important.”

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When journalists fight back we are given a refreshing break from the “master narrative” that we are seldom offered.

Anderson Cooper, Soledad O’Brien, and Rachel Maddow are all known for being courageous, outspoken, and truth-seeking individuals. They, Anderson Cooper in particular, consider the disaster on a human level that the government blatantly ignore.

In one interview, with Jonathan Van Meter, Cooper says, “I was really affected by the bodies.” And when asked what his life had been like for the past few days of the storm, he says. “I’m fine.” Long pause. “It’s a horrible story to cover.” Another long pause. “Frankly, I feel privileged to be here. I’m really...I don’t want to leave...Um...” He starts to cry. “I’m sorry,” he says, “I’m going to have to call you back in a second.”

Not only did Cooper react with sadness, but with anger. In response to Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu’s

detached, robotic thanking of several politicians “extraordinary efforts,” Anderson cuts her off, saying, “Excuse me senator, I’m sorry for interrupting. I haven’t heard that because, uh, for the last few days four days I’ve been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, uh, I gotta tell you that there are a lot of people here who are very upset and very angry and very frustrated.” With Cooper’s first hand account of the situation, it’s clear to see why his narrative is starkly different from those that haven’t even set foot on the scene or waited over a week to do so.

Maddow, though extremely critical of the Bush Administration’s handling of the situation, still refers to Katrina as a “natural” disaster. Furthermore, none of these journalists, at least through what I have seen in the research that I have conducted, make any mention towards what this could mean for the environment.

CALLED OUT Anderson Cooper, Soledad O’Brien, and Rachel Maddow are among the few brave journalists with mainstream media platforms that spoke out against the Government’s (non/mis) handling of Hurricane Katrina.

REFRESHING

NARRATIVES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpKsjsA4QUQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsuRCXiYGO4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LsuOyMCPZ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g4GS12P2-I

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Lost Narratives

THE VICTIMS THE ENVIRONMENT

They try to tell me keep my

eyes open. My whole city under water, some people still

floatin’

VOIC

ES LE

FT U

NHEA

RD

The mainstream media was lacking a lot of contact with the actual victims. Until Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke, many of their voices were silenced. Likely, the media was afraid of the candid responses that would have emerged.

The environment is virtually invisible from mainstream Katrina coverage and the discourse surrounding it. There is euphemistic rhetoric hinting toward global warming, but no one ever comes spells it out. The photograph above reminds me of the documentary Manufactured Landscapes. This unnatural disaster has radically altered the landscape, yet, it is not a priority for discussion or question. How should we feel about media that ignores those based on class, race, political influence in addition to the environment?