Extraordinary reportage by news outlets under the worst circumstances
The Times Picayune: This New Orleans flagship paper has published online in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. The site is remarkably rich, and its bulletin board for people to communicate with each other, find loved ones, learn about specific neighborhoods, is extraordinary in scope. The photo galleries and constant updates (newslogs) have been praised by journalism watchers, such as Editor and Publisher.
Sun Herald in Mississippi – The Southern Mississippi ( Biloxi and Gulf Port ) based paper is, like the Times Picayune, also proving a valuable source of local information. Publishing and even managing to distribute in one of the worst hit areas, the paper’s town by town damage reports are particularly informative.
St. Petersburg Times: The biggest paper in Florida has earned praised from Editor & Publisher for being prepared for disaster coverage—a sign of how coverage can benefit from planning. Its staff photographers have been commended for providing some defining photos of the hurricane.
Knight Ridder’s special Katrina section: This special section put up by the Knight Ridder Corporation collates news headlines from local South-Eastern papers and provides a hub with links to both national and local news about the hurricane.
WWLTV: The only local station to stay on the air, WWLTV also has live broadcast on their website. The online site is a rich resource for photographs, major developments and key information like road openings or weather conditions.
Houston Chronicle: A dedicated website focused on Katrina offers a webcast from WDSU-TV ( New Orleans ) and a full archive of videos, photo galleries, information, interactive maps for Katrina and other hurricanes from the 2005 season. It also has current reporting on Houston ’s preparedness.
Poynter Online: Provides a collection of online resources related to the hurricane. It looks at how the media is covering the hurricane (media coverage section) and has an enormous list of links to additional sources and hurricane history.
Greater New Orleans Community Data Center: A site that breaks down the parishes and neighborhoods that make up New Orleans. It has a dedicated link outlining flooding and damage in various parishes and also includes 2000 U.S. Census data on the city.
BBC: BBC’s UK edition includes a timeline starting from the day the storm hit New Orleans and outlines how the storm became one of United States’ biggest national crises.
