Annual Southern California Journalism Awards gala program column by Los Angeles Press Club Judging Chair Michael Collins:
MESSAGE FROM THE BIG EASY
By Michael Collins
Judging Chair
Greater Los Angeles Press Club
Nobody likes being judged by, say, an editor who wouldn’t know a great story if it smacked him in the head with a sturgeon. But we do like being adjudicated tonight because of the Los Angeles Press Club’s tradition of judging excellence. The Press Club assesses the work done in other cities so that they’ll judge the work done by Southland journalists and submitted to the Southern California Journalism Awards. Reciprocal judging is integral to furthering eminence in our profession, and it assures unbiased critiquing.
I was again honored this year to be the chair of the judging subcommittee, and was joined by fellow Press Club volunteer judges Diana Ljungaeus, Anthea Raymond, Matt Welch and Chris Woodyard. Among the press clubs we have judged so far this year were the East Bay Press Club, the Houston Press Club and the Press Club of New Orleans.
Our colleagues from The Big Easy couldn’t judge us this year for obvious reasons. But despite hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Press Club of New Orleans decided to continue its 48-year tradition in honoring the best in Cajun copy. It wasn’t easy, however, according to their club president Dominic Massa who is also a news producer at the CBS affiliate WWL-TV Channel 4.
“While documenting Hurricane Katrina’s disastrous impact on a major American city, and the huge rebuilding and recovery challenges that have followed, journalists and media professionals in New Orleans have also experienced the storm’s impact themselves, on personal and professional levels,” Massa told us. “Levee breaches and the flooding that followed have caused many to lose their homes, and all or most of their possessions. Some lost loved ones. Others lost their jobs. The feeling of loss remains, even this many months later, while the job of covering the story and its impact on our fellow New Orleanians continues.
“Before and during Katrina’s landfall, local journalists, including the area’s TV meteorologists, warned their audience of the massive storm’s impending danger, reporting and broadcasting life-saving evacuation messages from local and state officials. In the hours before the storm hit, on Monday, August 29, 2005, local media outlets were understandably concerned for the safety of their employees. Some called for smaller crews to stay in the strike zone (covering what would become the story of their lifetime), while others retreated to safer areas, to prepare for the time when they could come back into town to report on the aftermath. While pre-Katrina reports in The Times-Picayune, and years of reports by many TV journalists, had predicted New Orleans’ worst case hurricane scenario, few of the journalists who covered the scene during those early days could have ever imagined what they would see once that day came.
“Katrina’s impact was so severe that many of the local TV stations were knocked off the air. Most maintained a web site presence, transmitting valuable information to evacuees. The Times-Picayune was forced to evacuate many of its staffers to higher ground because of flooding. Reporting continued from those who could and did stay behind. Floodwaters swamped the buildings of at least two local TV stations, seriously damaging their facilities, while other stations suffered varying degrees of damage. WWL Radio, with cooperation from its parent company’s other local stations and a competing radio chain, remained a lifeline throughout the storm, broadcasting to evacuees across the country.”
And that’s what great journalism is – “a lifeline throughout the storm.” That’s why The Times-Picayune won two Pulitzer Prizes this year and that’s why some of you will bring home hardware tonight. You are the lifeline to our democracy in these turbulent, uncharted times.
You are also a lifeline to your fellow journalists like those in New Orleans. “Thanks for doing this… and for all you’re doing to help us with our awards program,” Massa said without having to. “You guys have been very valued friends of our club for several years now. We appreciate it more than ever.”
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