MAINSTREAM
Hurricane Katrina Coverage
“CNN’s
coverage of
Katrina and the
aftermath won a 2006
Peabody Award, the
oldest honor in
electronic
media”
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.
[1]
LOOTERS
BEWARE
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 onedimensional 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.
Rethinking Our
Cultural Narratives
[2]
Unbalanced Coverage
Not 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.”
Which narrative was more “important” to the media?
[3]
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 truthseeking 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
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
REFRESHING
NARRATIVES
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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpKsjsA4QUQ
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.
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu’s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g4GS12P2-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LsuOyMCPZ4
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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsuRCXiYGO4
[4]
VOICES LEFT UNHEARD
Lost
Narratives
They try to
tell me keep my
eyes open. My whole
city under water,
some people still
floatin’
THE VICTIMS
THE ENVIRONMENT
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?
[5]