Newspapers essential during disasters

Hurricane Katrina whipped through Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama on Aug. 29, 2005, throwing people from all walks of life into upheaval—lives were lost, homes and businesses were destroyed, and nearly everyone’s life changed forever.

Cities and small towns around Mississippi were inundated in the days before and during Katrina’s rampage as evacuees searched for shelter, and thousands took refuge in the homes of family members, friends and complete strangers. Many of them still remain.

In this time of crisis, the roles and challenges of community newspapers was never more evident—to keep the public informed not only of what was happening along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans, but also in our own communities now cut off by felled trees and power and telephone lines.

Our small newsroom in southwest Mississippi felt Katrina’s wrath, as about 30 of us rode out the hurricane in our building, trying in vain to publish a newspaper. And, as the winds died down that fateful Monday afternoon, our reporters sprung into action to cover what we all quickly realized would be a monumental disaster.

In our technology-laden society, the Enterprise-Journal (http://www.enterprise-journal.com) was crippled without the electricity to run computers, the press or the electronic telephone systems. By that evening, Publisher Jack Ryan had come up with a plan to get an edition published on Aug. 30: Move our computer server and three computers to the local hospital, which allowed us to hook up our system to its computer systems—kept running by a generator.

The Hattiesburg American, more than 70 miles away, agreed to print our paper on its generator-powered press. Now, all that was left was for our reporters—all without power, many without phones—to write stories.

News Editor Matt Williamson, who couldn’t make it home on Aug. 29 because of downed trees and power lines, and long-time staff writer Karen Freeman, worked from her home to track down area officials and write in longhand by candlelight one of the best spot news stories I’ve read. They dictated the story by phone to me as we set up at the hospital. Ryan and I, along with graphic designer Beverly Moak worked late into the night to finish the Aug. 30 edition.

By morning, however, we faced another daunting obstacle—long gas lines snarled traffic around our small city of 14,000. This hampered our efforts to get gas for the few carriers able to make it to the paper and for our reporters diligently working to keep our readers, and thousands of evacuees informed.

Without electricity, most of southwest Mississippi was left without television, radio or the Internet. We realized immediately that our job of informing the public had just become even more of a critical mission.
And with power out to most of the area for days, local newspapers were the only available media outlet for information-starved residents and scores of evacuees, most of whom hail from devastated New Orleans and other hard-hit parts of Louisiana.

Food, water, ice, gas, power, shelters, disaster aid—these became critical items and the source of top news stories for weeks after Katrina made landfall. We all felt the crunch, as gas was in short supply and lines backed up for miles through McComb; ice and water distribution lines were no better.

Despite these hardships, each and everyone of the Enterprise-Journal’s news staff put these concerns aside and worked long, hard hours to tell the stories the public wanted to know.

Sports Editor Randy Hammons walked much of McComb for several days interviewing evacuees, officials and disaster workers. Williamson, Freeman, staff writer Colin Trisler and photographer Aaron Rhoads went out day after day tracking down stories with limited gas supplies and little sleep. All the while the public’s frustrations mounted.

Staff writer Ernest Herndon snaked through the more rural parts of our area trying to reach those small communities we had received no word from. The once scenic drives to these hamlets scattered throughout southwest Mississippi now became treks to find safe passage, to check on the condition of these areas and to report to our information-deprived readers.

I have never been more proud of or more honored to work with a group of journalists—all of whom put their own personal hardships and needs aside to make sure the public was informed.

In the weeks since Katrina’s impact, we have slowly begun to re-integrate our normal features—high school sports, weddings, arts, outdoors and other items, which were swept away by Katrina coverage.

Now, almost a month after Katrina ravaged our area, (and Hurricane Rita getting too close for comfort) our newsroom still struggles to adjust to “the new normal,” as Freeman dubbed it. Confusion and disorganization in disaster relief from the American Red Cross in our area has become a daily Page One story. The Red Cross has received millions in donations and local volunteers work tirelessly to help victims, but a lack of organizational leadership from the top has hampered relief efforts.

Katrina-related stories appear on the front of the Enterprise-Journal daily, and I suspect that will continue for months to come. While some of our readers have returned to pre-Katrina routines, evacuees from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans area continue the day-to-day struggles to rebuild their shattered lives—homes are gone, jobs no longer exist, family and friends are spread to the winds, children must adjust to new schools, and some have even started new jobs, though most are returning to local shelters each night. The work of rebuilding the devastated areas is just beginning.

With much talk of declining circulation numbers at newspapers, Hurricane Katrina has demonstrated the continuing need of local newspapers—dailies and weeklies—to keep their readers informed of the issues facing their communities, whatever they may be.

Even in a widespread blackout and in the ruins of a natural disaster, the print media will always be there to shine a light on local communities.