A True History of the Johnstown Flood Study - Goodman Theatre

A Conversation with Cheryl Corley
In an interview with Yasmine Simone Williams, one of
the Goodman’s Education and Community Engagement
Department interns, NPR’s Cheryl Corley discusses her
experience covering a disaster in New Orleans in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Yasmine Simone Williams: How does one prepare
to cover a disaster?
Cheryl Corley: First you make sure you have extras of
everything---extra batteries, extra flashcards which we
use to record audio, extra microphones, microphone
cords, a flashlight. You try to think of things that you
won’t be able to get quickly or buy for a few days
or weeks. So you have to be pretty self-contained.
Fortunately, I was part of the second wave of NPR
reporters going into New Orleans so I was able to get the
advice of the reporters who were already on the ground
there. I took light weight rain gear and boots for flooded
areas even though NPR had extra boots available too. I
wasn’t worried about food or lodging because NPR had
taken care of those details. It was good to be with a
company that had experience covering disasters. .
YSW: Does one have to detach themselves from
the horrors of disaster in order to articulately
cover the story? How does one avoid letting
emotions take over and prevent them from
accurately covering the story?
CC: When I got to New Orleans it was a ghost town. So I
didn’t experience some of the really distressing scenes
where people were trapped in flooded neighborhoods
or dying. The people on hand when I arrived were
emergency personnel and some hotel workers.
Sometimes, it was eerie, though, traveling through the
town. Often you were alone in the car. The city was on
lockdown, many streets signs were gone, and the only
lights on the street came from the headlights of the car.
New Orleans was simply deserted for weeks. The horror
in this instance was the vast devastation. There were
crushed houses, homes that had been trashed by the
wind or water, and trees all over the place. As a reporter,
you know that some people have simply lost everything.
It’s amazing to see and in some instances you do
become detached because you have to report the story
and not be overwhelmed by the devastation. .
As a journalist, my job is to gather information, to verify
what I can and to investigate. I’m not at a disaster to
pass judgement even if I have opinions about what I see.
I go in as an information gatherer and a disseminator of
what people need to know.
YSW: How does one avoid writing a piece built
entirely on their personal politics?
©2005, Courtesy of NPR®. Cheryl Corley, Photographer.
CC: There’s a strict line between commentary—which is
based on your politics and point of view—and reporting.
As a reporter, I’m at a disaster to describe what’s
happening and talk to people who are involved in the
disaster in some way. I’m not there to tell people how I
feel about a situation. I’m there so people can decide
how they feel about what’s happened during and after a
disaster.
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