Sunday, September 18, 2005
Journalists Comment on Covering the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
On Sunday's one-hour special edition of "Reliable Sources," Howard Kurtz looked at the media’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Did the emotions of journalists interfere with their reporting? Joining him were Lee Cowan of CBS News, Chris Rose from the "New Orleans Times-Picayune" and Alina Cho, a CNN correspondent. Below are excerpts from the program:
Cowan on whether he became angry in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and whether that anger was incorporated into his reporting
"Sure, it does make you angry. But I think you do have to take a step back and make sure that you're not preaching about what's wrong here."
Cho on mixing emotions into one's reporting
"At the end of the day, Howie, you are still a human being. You try not to inject that into your reporting, but you know, sometimes I think it is OK for your emotions to come out. I think Anderson Cooper proved that. And I think viewers appreciate that.
Rose on coping when the story is personal
KURTZ: Now, Chris Rose, you are in a whole different situation. You can't go home right now because there's no power, and no water, no electricity where you live in New Orleans. You have got your family up here temporarily, you've got your kids going to school in the Washington area temporarily.Could you possibly separate your emotions about this from your writing, and should you?
CHRIS ROSE, NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE: I think it would be impossible. You know, reporters are trained to go do this in other places, to go respond to what happens in Oklahoma City, 9/11, the tsunami. Other -- other natural... disasters, other places. There is no handbook that prepares you to cover this in your hometown. So that while we have to do the day-to-day journalism, be on the front lines, getting the story out; at the same time, we're wondering, where are our relatives, is my house under water? Trying to put my kids in school 1,000 miles away. It becomes a very emotional, very personal story. It's impossible.
Cowan on whether the media was too focused on assigning blame
"The unique part of this story is that we were actually part it as well, for better or for worse. We were sleeping out on the freeway when everybody else was sleeping out on the freeway... And there were times in my reporting that I thought, I've got to be in the wrong place. I have got to just be in some small pocket somewhere that the rescuers haven't gotten to yet... And the more I talked to my colleagues elsewhere around the city, we realized, it wasn't just some small pocket. It was the entire area that wasn't getting help right away. And I think it was just sort of a natural question for all of us to ask as to why. Where is it?
"I felt being -- I went to the -- to cover the tsunami in Banda Aceh, was there about four days after the storm, after the waves. And I felt that there, aid was getting there faster than it was getting here."
You'll find the complete transcript of the program HERE.
Cowan on whether he became angry in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and whether that anger was incorporated into his reporting
"Sure, it does make you angry. But I think you do have to take a step back and make sure that you're not preaching about what's wrong here."
Cho on mixing emotions into one's reporting
"At the end of the day, Howie, you are still a human being. You try not to inject that into your reporting, but you know, sometimes I think it is OK for your emotions to come out. I think Anderson Cooper proved that. And I think viewers appreciate that.
Rose on coping when the story is personal
KURTZ: Now, Chris Rose, you are in a whole different situation. You can't go home right now because there's no power, and no water, no electricity where you live in New Orleans. You have got your family up here temporarily, you've got your kids going to school in the Washington area temporarily.Could you possibly separate your emotions about this from your writing, and should you?
CHRIS ROSE, NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE: I think it would be impossible. You know, reporters are trained to go do this in other places, to go respond to what happens in Oklahoma City, 9/11, the tsunami. Other -- other natural... disasters, other places. There is no handbook that prepares you to cover this in your hometown. So that while we have to do the day-to-day journalism, be on the front lines, getting the story out; at the same time, we're wondering, where are our relatives, is my house under water? Trying to put my kids in school 1,000 miles away. It becomes a very emotional, very personal story. It's impossible.
Cowan on whether the media was too focused on assigning blame
"The unique part of this story is that we were actually part it as well, for better or for worse. We were sleeping out on the freeway when everybody else was sleeping out on the freeway... And there were times in my reporting that I thought, I've got to be in the wrong place. I have got to just be in some small pocket somewhere that the rescuers haven't gotten to yet... And the more I talked to my colleagues elsewhere around the city, we realized, it wasn't just some small pocket. It was the entire area that wasn't getting help right away. And I think it was just sort of a natural question for all of us to ask as to why. Where is it?
"I felt being -- I went to the -- to cover the tsunami in Banda Aceh, was there about four days after the storm, after the waves. And I felt that there, aid was getting there faster than it was getting here."
You'll find the complete transcript of the program HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 5:48 PM 
