This week, we are all haunted by waters

I wasn't the only one pouring out my thoughts in helpless frustration at being unable to do much about the suffering I was seeing on TV on Thursday (see below, “Where is the outrage?”). I received this from my friend Tom Jacobs, an accomplished producer:

Images and stories of poor Black folks don’t play as well on television as missing young white girls.  Politicians would rather cozy up to well heeled corporate special interests than respond to an underclass with little education or money.

But Katrina changed the rules.

The magnitude of this week’s disaster is of such a scale that television news has probably had more stories about poor Black folks on the air this week than they’ve had since television news began. And they’re stories that for the most part, television is woefully unprepared to cover.

Poor Black folks comprise a community that the executives who run television news divisions knew little about and rarely acknowledge. They are a segment of American society that is largely invisible in television news.  But Katrina lifted the veil. Katrina has forced television news divisions to send their best and brightest into this heretofore “invisible” community. And increasingly it’s becoming apparent, that many of the journalists covering this tragedy don’t like what they see and how this community is being treated.

Politicians say they’re responding quickly.

But what we see are pictures of dead bodies lying in the streets, an elderly woman dead in her wheel chair, a newborn infant near death because there is no formula. We hear journalists talk about watching rats eating the dead and listen to American citizens begging their government for food and water. These are stories we expect to see in some war ravaged Third World nation, not from New Orleans, not from Americans.

But they are stories that I for one, as horrific as they are, am glad to see. They show an America that needs to be seen and exposed. It is a legacy of Hurricane Katrina for which I am grateful.

Meanwhile, Broadcasting & Cable’s John Eggerton just posted his memories of the New Orleans Convention Center,  the giant box where many of us have attended television industry gatherings in the past and which has now turned into a warehouse of death and fear:

http://www.bcbeat.com/?q=node/650

And following on my earlier post about whether ABC will air the hurricane pilot of “Invasion” in three weeks, this from Brian Henke:

History Channel last night pulled a program called Isaac's Storm (about the man who warned about the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas and killed 8,000 people) and showed some show about Prohibition.

On the jump page, another charity concert announced.       

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  (Sept. 1, 2005 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE) -- The Grand Ole Opry presented by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and television network Great American Country (GAC) today announced plans for Country Reaches Out: An Opry Benefit for the American Red Cross to assist with hurricane relief.  The Sept. 27 event, to be held at the Grand Ole Opry House, will begin at 8 p.m. ET.  GAC will broadcast live from the event starting at 9 p.m. ET.

Among the growing list of artists scheduled to appear are Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Craig Morgan and Billy Currington.

The commercial-free television event will include appearances and performances by country music artists who will raise awareness for The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and urge contributions from GAC viewers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that caused catastrophic damage throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.  Profits from the show's ticket sales will also benefit the Red Cross.

"Without fail, country music and its fans show compassion and support for those in need," said Colin Reed, Chairman and CEO of Gaylord Entertainment, the Opry's parent company. "The Opry is the heart and home of country music, and the Opry family-- its employees and artists alike-- wants to do everything it can to make sure country's heart is extended to our neighbors who have suffered such unspeakable losses this week."

In addition to the live GAC broadcast, the Opry event will be simulcast on GAC sister networks DIY Network and FINE LIVING to maximize the TV audience.