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More Katrina
Sep. 2nd, 2005 07:40 pmI’ve been watching a lot of the New Orleans news today, in my usual addicted-to-the-major-news-event fashion. And reading stuff online.
One of the scariest things I found online was at the New Orleans Times Picayune website (www.nola.com), which is finally running news after being down for two days. (I always try to read the local newspaper's coverage in situations like this, figuring it will have the most complete information.) There’s a section where friends of people who need to be rescued are writing in, describing their plight. Specific addresses are given; these are often people who are ill, infirm, on medication, elderly, etc. – and have been without food or water for days. I can’t read too many of these, because they are so upsetting, but it points to how slow the rescue effort is.
The future of the newspaper is interesting to ponder, too. There’s a comment from the publisher that the paper will continue to publish, but it’s strange to think of a newspaper covering a city that hardly exists anymore. The advertisers are under water and readers are scattered in other cities. Its circulation used to be about 250,000, and while I’m sure many of its readers lived in the suburbs, which may still be intact, the majority of its hard-copy subscribers must not be around to pick up a paper. It can keep posting stories on its Web site (its presses are currently under water), but is it still a newspaper if it does that? New Orleans desperately needs its newspaper coverage, but how can a newspaper continue to survive when its community vanishes?
And a little thing that bothers me: when the people move onto the busses that are taking them away from the Superdome, they have to first slosh through a foot of water. There is something so demeaning about that, that no ramps are provided. People are starting their 12-hour bus ride with soaking wet feet.
One of the scariest things I found online was at the New Orleans Times Picayune website (www.nola.com), which is finally running news after being down for two days. (I always try to read the local newspaper's coverage in situations like this, figuring it will have the most complete information.) There’s a section where friends of people who need to be rescued are writing in, describing their plight. Specific addresses are given; these are often people who are ill, infirm, on medication, elderly, etc. – and have been without food or water for days. I can’t read too many of these, because they are so upsetting, but it points to how slow the rescue effort is.
The future of the newspaper is interesting to ponder, too. There’s a comment from the publisher that the paper will continue to publish, but it’s strange to think of a newspaper covering a city that hardly exists anymore. The advertisers are under water and readers are scattered in other cities. Its circulation used to be about 250,000, and while I’m sure many of its readers lived in the suburbs, which may still be intact, the majority of its hard-copy subscribers must not be around to pick up a paper. It can keep posting stories on its Web site (its presses are currently under water), but is it still a newspaper if it does that? New Orleans desperately needs its newspaper coverage, but how can a newspaper continue to survive when its community vanishes?
And a little thing that bothers me: when the people move onto the busses that are taking them away from the Superdome, they have to first slosh through a foot of water. There is something so demeaning about that, that no ramps are provided. People are starting their 12-hour bus ride with soaking wet feet.
