Katrina: Small Acts of Heroism

Although the small acts of kindness and heroism in the face of Hurricane Katrina are too numerous to count, this week’s episode of On The Media brought one to my attention I hadn’t considered. The program interviewed New Orleans Times-Picayune editor Jim Amoss who discussed how, emotionally but mostly physically, the paper is still publishing despite its facilities, staff and their families being buried under the flooding. Although the TP couldn’t produce a print issue during the first terrible days of the hurricane, it contintued publishing through its web site and via a PDF download. The editorial staff had left New Orleans crammed into a single news van and set up a ersatz office in Baton Rouge. In the meantine, reporters fanned out across the state to bring news of the disaster and its city’s attempts at survival back to the citizenry. Most of them reported at great personal sacrifice to themselves, short of food and water, not knowing whether their families were alive or dead. The TP reporter covering the Gulf Coast has not been heard from and is presumed missing.

I know these men and women are just doing their job but with these obstacles, their job and their unwavering belief in their fellow citizens right to know have taken on a heroism I couldn’t have imagined in my brief tenure working at a major daily newspaper. Now I can.

Listen to the program (mp3 file).

• Category: Current Affairs