Katrina: The Images Begin To Sink In

R.D. Heldenfels in the Akron Beacon Journal:

“Early on, we saw semicomic pictures and cliches: Reporters letting themselves be lashed by rain and wind, water sweeping around cars. There were moments of self-glorification: Fox News branded a scene early in the week as ‘Fox affiliate reporter in thigh-deep water.’ CNN trumpeted ‘unrivaled Katrina coverage’ in a press release.

Yet the gravity of what had happened sank in. Death toll estimated in the thousands. Shortages in medical help. Family members searching for each other across several states, from one shelter to another. Blurry video and scratchy phone calls came from reporters who could not keep their emotions from their reports on the dead and the devastated.

If you absorbed those images day after day, you might well conclude that this is nature’s 9/11.”