Still Waiting For NBC’s Katrina Town Hall

I’ve often wondered about Brian Williams‘ promise to approach NBC and ask for time in primetime to hold a town hall and talk about the issues surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Jeff Zucker was supportive, wasn’t he? So why hasn’t it happened yet?

In today’s St. Petersburg Times, Eric Deggans asks a similar question. He quotes Williams’ comments in the days following the storm:

“If this does not spark a national discussion on class, race, the environment, oil, Iraq, infrastructure and urban planning, I think we’ve failed. “I’m going to approach my network to do something in prime time…I don’t know if it’s one hour or two, a town hall meeting with smart, professional people.”

It hasn’t happened. And Deggans says “journalists who have aggressively reported the issue for months agree: Katrina’s aftermath has not sparked the wider national dialogue some expected.”