Katrina: TV News Troops Are “Facing A Couple Of Real Tough Days”

The Hollywood Reporter sums up the efforts of television networks to cover the aftermath:

> NBC VP David Verdi: “We’re facing a couple of real tough days that will test the mettle of our personnel…We spent the greater part of the morning and much of the afternoon on supply lines. We have four RVs — these are sleep-six-comfortable big RVs — bringing food, water and medical supplies from Dallas.”

> CBS correspondent Mark Strassman: “The only way we have of communicating with anybody is satellite phones. Cells don’t work, BlackBerrys don’t work.”

> WNT EP Jon Banner: “We have a lot of real estate to cover and very little technology that will work. We’ve struggled to get a good way to transmit pictures from New Orleans. It’s getting supplies for our troops, it’s trying to get [to] these places that are blocked off by law enforcement and nature. It’s a struggle.”