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Covering Katrina

By Global Journalist Staff Posted Jan 1 2006

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What began as a routine weather story quickly turned into a massive humanitarian crisis with wide-reaching global repercussions. Bringing the story of Hurricane Katrina to the world tested the skills and resources of global news agencies as they reported from a country where things like this aren't supposed to happen.

“The thing that made it different from any other hurricane story was the fact that the levees broke and it became therefore not a hurricane story but a flooding story,” says Andrew Steele, the BBC Americas Bureau Chief. “And then of course, the story of flooding turned into the aftermath and the response of the federal and local governments, one that became a political story as well.”

Although others joined him as the story grew, initially the BBC sent only its Miami-based correspondent. “We were thinking of scaling down our operations until Alastair Leathead, who was in New Orleans, reported that the water was getting deeper, and it became clear that the levees had broken,” Steele says. “From that point onwards, it was a matter of scaling up as quickly as we possibly could.” BBC coverage exposed the ineffectiveness of the American government's response. Stories highlighted the victims' dire situations and were critical of President Bush's response and his stance on global warming.

With seven bureaus in the United States and reporters on the ground in New Orleans, AFP was well prepared to cover the storm. As it became apparent that Katrina was developing into a major story, AFP Chief Editor for North America Francis Kohn sent additional reporters to Louisiana and Mississippi. AFP correspondents produced more than 300 stories, covering everything from the political fallout to human-interest, in the first week after Katrina hit.

German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle and news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur took a critical tone in much of their coverage of the American government's handling of the crisis. Both organizations blamed the United States for soaring gas prices and global warming, which they alleged was behind the storm's severity. In the first week following the storm, Deutsche Welle's 12 articles often featured critical remarks aimed at the Bush administration by German Environment Minister Jurgen Trittin.

The DPA featured more fact-driven and comprehensive coverage including several stories about countries sending aid to the United States. Spiegel, Germany's top newspaper, took a moderate stance and even reprimanded national news organizations for lashing out at the U.S.

Xinhua, China's state news agency, did not dispatch its correspondents to New Orleans until Sept. 2, once evacuation efforts were well underway. “The city was almost empty,” says Pan Yunzhao, a Xinhua reporter. “We could hardly find anybody in the streets to talk to except the troops and the cops.” Because Xinhua is not well known in the United States, gaining access was difficult, as when the agency's reporters were prevented from entering the Superdome, a shelter of last resort for thousands.

The criticism of the U.S. government that appeared in much of the world's media was largely absent in Xinhua's coverage. The agency relied heavily on its Washington D.C. bureau for coverage in English, which often differed from what was reported in Chinese. Many stories were translated into Chinese from wire services such as AFP and The AP.

Chinese readers demanded coverage of the human effect of the disaster. “We received lots of complaints from newspapers across the nation in the first week asking for more human stories and more details,” said Xu Wong, senior editor of Xinhua's international desk. “Katrina ended up to be the most extensive human interest story to appear in the Chinese media's international events coverage.”

Russia's ORT was preoccupied with domestic problems and dedicated little time to a hurricane that had devastated what was seen as a second-tier city in the United States. However, coverage increased when news emerged of Russian students stranded in a flooded motel. In the days that followed, ORT primarily focused on the fate of the Russian victims of Katrina and reported: “The military and police have received a shoot-to-kill order. There is no light in hospitals. ... This is the condition in the city where still there are Russian students.”

The BBC also focused on its country's citizens, covering tearful reunions of British students with their families at UK airports and keeping track of the number of 100 British citizens who had not yet returned home. Overall, Steele says he was pleased with the BBC's ability to reflect the rapid evolution of a complex disaster. “I think where we shined is the fact that we got in there quickly, and we got up close and personal at considerable effort, expense and some danger to the correspondents,” Steele says. “We did particularly well with this story.”

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Information for this report was gathered and written by Xin Li, George Lomsadze, Yuriy Melnyk, Heather Rae Shoenberger and Bruce Troetschel, graduate students at the Missouri School of Journalism, as part of their course work. It was edited by Adam Schreck of the IPI Global Journalist staff.