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MEDIA COVERAGE OF HURRICANE KATRINA: IMPLICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
SEP 8, 2005 - 3:12PM PDT
by Shawn Powers

Download this report [PDF] News of hurricane Katrina and its political, social, economic, and humanitarian impacts have dominated global headlines since the natural disaster struck the Gulf Coast over a week ago. Due to the unprecedented havoc that Katrina brought, traditional media outlets have had to rely on a diverse array of methods to obtain and report the news. Some scholars have commented that this crisis may mark the first of its kind in that Internet technologies have been the critical medium for information dissemination in the aftermath of Katrina. As much of the chief communications and media infrastructure crumbled, media organizations began to rely on the Internet to continue to report the news. Moreover, the Internet provided citizens with a new communication medium that facilitated exchanges of information without having to rely on traditional media sources. The result has been an unprecedented amount of detailed information and candidness that is widely accessible throughout the world. Global reactions to Katrina and its aftermath have ranged from tremendous sympathy with the victims to rampant critique of American policy and culture. For some, President Bush’s initial denial of humanitarian aid from the international community was read as another example of his arrogant, ‘go-it-alone’ attitude, while, for others, the Administration’s eventual requests for aid diminished the credibility of United States as an international leader. Much of the coverage has emphasized that both lesser-developed and impoverished countries, as well as typical adversaries of the United States, have offered humanitarian aid in the wake of the crisis. As the severity of the humanitarian consequences set in, much of the coverage of the crisis began to focus on the failures of the government’s efforts at relieving many of the victims in the Gulf region, oftentimes drawing conclusions about what the ineffective effort means about contemporary American politics and culture. Other commentators, however, have pointed to the potential opportunities that have come with the disaster: the possibility of a more humbled, image conscious United States, as well as a rejuvenated domestic media that is outraged by the lackluster effort offered up by some state and federal officials. The following is an aggregation of key articles and commentary about Katrina and its aftermath. If you would like to post your reactions and ideas about her appointment, you can add your comments at the bottom of this page. Image czar says looting shocks world opinion (Ken Herman, Atlanta Journal Constitution, September 9th, 2005) “Karen Hughes, who officially starts her job today as head of the nation's image-building effort abroad, said Thursday that Hurricane Katrina had complicated her already formidable task. But while much of the global criticism has centered on the Bush administration's response to the storm, Hughes said something else was a problem for America's image around the world: the crime that followed. "The images of crime being committed in the face of an awful natural disaster is hard for anyone to understand, people around the world and Americans. It sickens me as an American," she said. "How…... FULL TEXT

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