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Why were experienced journalists so stunned that most of those left behind in flooded New Orleans were poor and black?
Media commentator Paul Janensch examines this issue in a short commentary that makes a perfect drop-in for a news program, or special on poverty. This can be used in conjuction with features from the program "After the Flood: New Conversations About Poverty."
Media commentator Paul Janensch is a former newspaper editor who teaches journalism at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. You can read his column in the Hartford Courant.
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Piece Description
Why were experienced journalists so stunned that most of those left behind in flooded New Orleans were poor and black? Media commentator Paul Janensch examines this issue in a short commentary that makes a perfect drop-in for a news program, or special on poverty. This can be used in conjuction with features from the program "After the Flood: New Conversations About Poverty." Media commentator Paul Janensch is a former newspaper editor who teaches journalism at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. You can read his column in the Hartford Courant.
Broadcast History
Originally broadcast on September 26, 2005 on WNPR - Connecticut Public Radio.
Transcript
Suggested Host Intro: Why were experienced journalists so stunned that most of those left behind in flooded New Orleans were poor and black?
They were stunned because the news media had been ignoring poverty, race and class for a long time. Which is understandable considering that few whites who command national attention - and that includes politicians of both parties and religious leaders of all faiths - were talking about "the elephant in America's living room," as one writer put it. Then came Hurricane Katrina, and the news media could not help but show us those men, women and children trapped on rooftops, trudging through waist-deep floodwaters and huddled on the floors of arenas. Almost all of them were poor and black, without cars in which to escape. Even when a degree of normality returns to the Gulf Coast from Alabama to Texas, I hope poverty, race and class continue to be a...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Piece is 2:21
In words: "They were stunned because..."
Out words: "...never stop being news."
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Phil Corriveau
Posted on October 09, 2005 at 12:11 PM | Permalink
Review of Keeping Poverty on the Front Page
This is an excellent piece of writing, which demonstrates that good print journalism can be translated to radio. Janensch has a good radio voice that is engaging and convincing. Overall this is a nice commentary about poverty, race and class that would work well in a magazine format.