LEADERSHIP THROUGH HELL AND HIGH WATER
How local TV stations covered Hurricane Katrina

Journalists along the Gulf Coast have two jobs these days, says WWL-TV news director Sandy Breland: "Being journalists and working to get their lives back together." Almost six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and parts of Mississippi, a large percentage of Breland's staff still has no permanent housing. But she says she has learned valuable lessons from the catastrophe. "If you have a plan, people will follow you," she told an audience at the National Press Club. WWL managed to stay on the air throughout the storm because the station had a comprehensive disaster plan.

Other stations weren't as well prepared. John Snell, who anchors at WVUE-TV in New Orleans, says that in the immediate aftermath of the storm his station worked out of a sister station in Mobile, AL, had commercials inserted at a centralcasting hub in Orlando, and used a satellite dish they literally bought at Best Buy to bring the signal in by way of Denver. "One day we lost our signal because it rained in Denver," he said.

Even today, "everything is difficult," Snell says, because the station still lacks the tools employees once took for granted to get the job done. Across town, WGNO-TV has operated out of two double-wide trailers since the end of September. "One good thing," says news director Bob Noonan. "We don't have to pay for parking." Joking aside, Noonan says he's having terrible trouble hiring new staff. Three reporters have turned down offers to come work for him. "A lot of people are scared."

In Biloxi, MS, news director David Vincent says everyone's emotions are still on the surface. Twelve members of his staff lost everything in the storm. "It affects your psyche," he says. "If we have another big storm, I'm afraid we will lose a lot of staff."

For those who have stayed, says WDSU news director Anzio Williams, "journalism has a whole new meaning." While it's difficult to tell the magnitude of the story, he says, "we clearly understand that we are the lifeline."

The panel discussion, "Leadership Through Hell or High Water," was produced by RTNDA and held at the National Press Club in Washington, on March 10, 2006.