Coverage of Hurricane Katrina:

Newspaper, Television, & Radio

Newspaper Coverage of
Hurricane Katrina
 Effective Print Coverage:
During Hurricane Katrina
8/25: St. Petersberg Times
“While Katrina swirls, county casts wary eye”

•Informative article, gives readers facts they need to

know
• Advises readers to remain in cautionary state
•Doesn’t try to sensationalize the crisis as other
publications do
•Advises readers to prepare for disaster and gives
them tips for survival.
•Refers readers to sources which give constant
updates on the storms destruction and helps locate
citizens
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=de1716eb42&view=att&th=123f204e09e9467b&attid=0.0&disp=vah&zw
 Ineffective Print Coverage: 8/26
The New York Times
“A Blast of Rain but Little Damage as Hurricane Hits South Florida”

•''I feel pretty comfortable that this is a minor event,'' said Mark
Golden as he bought flashlights and water at a Home Depot in
Boca Raton, about 40 miles north of here. Mr. Golden said he
was not even planning to cover his windows with plywood.
• A grocery bagger at a Publix grocery store says, ''There's no
panicking, just shopping.'’
• Although there has been tremendous destruction; the NYT
neglects to report on the obvious devastation.
•Gives readers a false state regarding actual status of New
Orleans.
•NYT over simplifies major struggles faced by hurricane victims

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=de1716eb42&view=att&th=123f21a75dc4cdca&attid=0.0&disp=vah&zw
 Ineffective Print Coverage: Post Crisis 9/21
The Washington Post
“Experts Say Faulty Levees Caused Much of Flooding”
•“Louisiana's top hurricane experts have rejected the official
explanations for the floodwall collapses that inundated much of New
Orleans, concluding that Hurricane Katrina's storm surges were
much smaller than authorities have suggested and that the city's
flood- protection system should have kept most of the city dry.”
•“Intense focus on the chaotic government response to the flood. But
the real scandal of Katrina is the "catastrophic structural failure" of
barriers that should have handled the hurricane with relative ease.”
• It was obvious to most that the levee system was the reason such
destruction occurred.
•Washington Post was repetitive in its reporting of facts that were
stated over and over again.

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=de1716eb42&view=att&th=123f224e1d7d7824&attid=0.0&disp=vah&zw
 Print Newspaper Coverage:
The Times-Picayune
¥ Daily newspaper for New Orleans
¥ Ineffective coverage for residents needing help
¥ Needed more practical information before Aug. 29
(approx. date Katrina hit) such as evacuation
routes
¥ After flooding, New Orleans residents needed
more coverage on shelters, food banks, and
evacuation help on the way
¥ Aside from that, good continuous reporting on
unsafe areas and buildings
¥ Switched to PDF format after its own news building became
flooded
¥ Never stopped reporting during the crisis
 What did the Times-Picayune Report?
• Combination of local and national news
• National news focused on lack of government
response from President Bush
• Opinion pieces criticized FEMA, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency
• Struggle of Times-Picayune journalist Chris Rose
to get his family out
• Very real perspective on Katrina
• Looting coverage
• Cops joining in the looting
• Hospitals needing help transporting patients
• Individual stories of volunteers and rescuers
 Print Newspaper Coverage:
American Press
• Daily newspaper for Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Effective coverage for New Orleans residents
needing help
• Thorough coverage on parishes throughout
Louisiana offering help for evacuees
• Very thorough coverage on transportation,
shelters, and food banks offering assistance to
evacuees in Aug. 30th issue
Television Coverage of
Hurricane Katrina
 NBC Nightly News
• Effective reporting evaluating what exactly went wrong, shows
the lack of disaster preparedness and goes into very thorough
detail on this matter
• Provides an understanding for both New Orleans residents as
well as those in other parts of the country of why things
happened the way that they did
• Effective also because it doesn’t shy away from what local
authorities and federal authorities did wrong
• Examines 3 key areas of breakdown that could have prevented
this tragedy:
• Delay in ordering mandatory evacuation (just 19 hours before
landfall)
• The Levees failed
• Government mismanagement (complete breakdown in coordination
& communication)
            Hurricane Katrina from a TV Perspective­
  CNN Nightly News COVERAGE

Before Hurricane Katrina­ September 2004
• CNN reporter coverage on Hurricane Ivan and his predictions 
of such disaster
•Benefits of televised reportin­ reporter first­hand learning by 
attending the scene of an incident gives reporter inside 
information they can process by themselves and relay to 
viewers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb5O6sg79Mo
CNN Coverage Days Leading up….

•Ineffective: Wasn’t until Aug. 24th that CNN reported about the hurricane 
approaching Florida; included a Live interview with National Hurricane Center 
director Max Mayfield, who describes the dooming damage status of the storm as 
‘mediocore’. 

•Aug. 25th : Most of this broadcast keeps up with Hurricane Katrina moving into 
Florida; included a taped interview with Max Mayfield who only talks about 
flooding concerns for Florida.

• Not until Aug 27th does CNN start talking about New Orleans residents 
evacuating. Photos are shown from Hurricane Camille damage in 1969. Live 
interview with Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blancot about her state’s preparations 
for the storm. 

•Aug 28th­ First time there is in­depth coverage of New Orleans, for example, first 
time CNN interviews residents (only 2), noted the magnitude of the storm, talks bout 
the Superdome and Red Cross there; Live interview again with Max Mayfield­ talks 
about expected category 5 and what these categories mean.
 Effective CNN Coverage During…

•Focusing on most hit parish even though poor area
•Asking the questions we (the nation) want to know to member 
of the National Guard
•Who/How many are left behind?
•What are they doing about it NOW to rescue people?
•Live and emotional radio interviews with helpers and victims 
both; all while showing live aerial view of the damage.
•Human awkwardness­ a call for the nation’s help without 
having to state it.
•24 hour CNN coverage; accumulated reports for evening news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpsdPm4JsU4&feature=related
 Ineffective CNN Coverage
•Evacuation not discussed on CNN until Sunday, Aug. 27th 

Knowing the poor information originally given to CNN by the director of 
the National Hurricane Center through live and taped interviews days 
leading up to landfall in New Orleans, to what extent can the media be 
blamed? The government?  

To what extent could CNN coverage have influenced more people to 
relocate?
­demonstration of severity of situation
­pressure from out­of­state family members

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFAsyYnTkIw
 What do YOU think of this CNN coverage:
Effective or Not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsuRCXiYGO4&NR=1

Strengths of TV: Being able to SEE the interview, watch Senator 
Mary Landrieu’s face in response to serious questions while
Watching visual images of the actual event in the background.

­emotional pull
­pictures say 1,000 words
 CNN Coverage After….
•Aug. 30th­ 2 hour special of aftermath of Hurricane Katrina­ lots of coverage on 
how President Bush is visiting and accounting for the damage; more news 
stories already being covered, including an ostrich being loose on the Golden 
Gate Bridge and the rise in SAT scores.

•Aug. 31st President talks about the years it will take the Federal Gov to finalize 
relief efforts**INEFFECTIVE: TV’s broad public and lack of ability to go 
beyond generalizing information­­­­> First day CNN gives out Red Cross relief 
numbers to general public

• Sept 1st is the first time that CNN mentions that perhaps the federal 
government should have been ready to respond sooner­ 1 story; coverage on 
individual family stories.

•Sept 3­ one story covering government involvement suggesting US should have 
a better plan for relief efforts in emergency; by this point, there is only one main 
story covering the hurricane­ interrupted by coverage of the death of Supreme 
Court Justice William Rehnquist. ** INEFFECTIVE: TV’s quick lash back in to 
the informational world & move on to the next, newer, bigger story.
Public Radio Coverage of
Hurricane Katrina
 During The Hurricane
• August 25, 2005 - “Florida Storm
Damage and U.S. Oil Supplies”
– Documents what local residents in Florida
are doing to prepare
– Fear of increase in oil prices - no
discussion of fear of inland destruction
– “Katrina is not a killer storm” - Eric Weiner
 During The Hurricane
• August 29, 2005 - “Hurricane Katrina
Update” (Talk of the Nation)
– “No one has really been able to get out yet,
not even the National Guard”
– “The famed levy has been breached by this
storm… heard reports of people on their
roof tops… but this is not widespread”
 In the Days Following
• August 30, 2005 - “Mississippi Hard-Hit
by Katrina”
– “Got the full force of Katrina”
– Documents death toll, damage figures,
etc…
– Gives more of an update than an analysis
 Prepared for Disaster?
• Reviewing Bush and Roberts (All
Things Considered)
– Knew that this was the most anticipated
natural disaster in human history, but it
was an utter governmental failure
– Will be influential on politics in the coming
years; will remind people that the
government will be the enemy… until you
need a friend