Minneapolis Star Tribune
by Nora Gallagher

09/11/05

When I was a cub reporter for Time, the San Francisco police went on strike one night, and I was sent out to get the news of what was happening. I drove and walked all over. The streets were empty. Nothing was happening. Two guys were smoking marijuana in a square downtown. End of story. I went back to the bureau and filed. Two minutes later, I got a call. Go back out. There must be violence somewhere. The story had to fit a worldview or it wasn't a story. Katrina blew that away. We got the story of what is really happening in the United States right between the eyes. We got the story of how poor people live and are treated in this country by watching them suffer and die. We got the story because it happened so fast, and right in front of our faces, and no one could put a spin on it quickly enough. We got the story because television reporters were openly outraged on camera. We got the story because reporters asked real questions and demanded real answers, rather than throwing softballs and settling for the fluff and the spin that pass for news. It was raw, it was awful, and it slid under the skin of our sleepy, numb, feel-good lives...

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5606301.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp