Download issue (PDF) - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

Katrina’s AftermathA Steadfast Editorial Voice‘… anything that does not have a practical application appears pompous inprint in the aftermath of genuine disaster and tragedy.’By Tony BiffleAfew weeks after HurricaneKatrina, Biloxi Mayor A.J. Hollowayguided a group of U.S.senators through his devastated city. Atone point, Senator John Warner pulledthe mayor aside and said, “Mayor Holloway,I’m an old man. I’ve been throughthree wars and five wives, but I’ve neverseen anything as bad as this.”My experience is a bit more limitedthan the senator’s. I’ve been throughonly one war and three wives. But, likehim, I had never seen anything as badas Katrina. And I have never written somuch about anything as Katrina—withno end in sight.Long before Katrina started headingour way, late in August 2005, the SunHerald had already paid more editorialattention to hurricanes than weusually do. Even now, our numerousappeals to South Mississippians to beprepared for a storm in the summerof 2005 are eerily prescient. And afterour newspaper published the editorial“The Power of Prayer and Plywood” onthe eve of the storm, Katrina becamethe only topic of our editorials formonths and will remain the primaryfocus of our paper’s voice for manyyears more.When an event alters a communityto the extent that Katrina changed ours,the time it takes to recover can be asstaggering as the catastrophe itself.While few news stories endure as longas this one has, the consequences ofmany events do tend to linger longerthan we might imagine they could. A bitof what we’ve learned in editorializingabout this one might be useful for thattime when a story in your communityrefuses to go away. A few quick, allencompassingpieces of advice comefirst, followed by some experienceswe’ve had:• Accept, as soon as possible, thatnothing will get back to normalanytime soon.• Beware of fatigue—your own andyour readers’.• Keep in mind that no one editorialwill say all that needs to be said. Orwill be read by all who need to readit. So break it down. Sort it out. Putit in print—again and again.The only thing quick about a catastropheis the time it takes to occur.For those who survive, everything elseseems to take forever. So at appropriateintervals, review the course ofevents and refresh your interpretationsand recommendations. As for recommendations,don’t expect perfection,An editorial page from the Sun Herald.either from yourself or others. And beprepared to make, or at least evaluate,recommendations as never before.We have yet to run out of Katrinarelatededitorial material. In thebeginning, there were the obvious issuesof survival. Then there were theobstacles to recovery. Now there arethe seemingly never-ending subjectsof affordable insurance coverage—andaffordable housing—and rebuilding.And if your audience is, like ours, splitamong multiple jurisdictions, thenyour editorials will be, too. You willpraise those counties and cities thatlearn quickly and do the right thingright away. You will encourage othercounties and cities to follow the exampleof others.This requires patience, especially inan area such as ours, which just can’twait to get back to being laid back.Jimmy Buffett is, after all, one of ourown. We live for the day when we haveto dig deep for a Katrina-related editorialtopic. Two years after the storm,that day has yet to dawn.For all the praise and thanks to beheaped on first responders (of whichthose of us at the newspaper are one,by the way) and volunteers, there ismuch that can and should be criticizedabout the handling of anything onthe scale of Katrina. Panic and chaosundermine planning and preparations.Katrina humbled many a proudindividual and institution. So pick andchoose the objects of your criticismcarefully. For instance, just days afterKatrina, one of our reporters observedpersonnel at Keesler Air Force Base inBiloxi playing basketball on base. Why,we opined, weren’t those troops “exercising”out in the community? Theycould get plenty of exercise by helpingwith debris removal, for instance. It50 Nieman Reports / Fall 2007