Media vows Persistence on Katrina related and inspired news coverage

Shepard SmithAnderson CooperBrian Williams

Along with Anderson Cooper and Shepard Smith, Brian Williams has been leading the charge of reporters and anchors reassessing their obligations and priorities as journalists in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Williams has been keeping a detailed daily blog on the production of his Nightly News since before Katrina struck and in the wake of the Hurricane it has become a must read.

There continue to be cries of grandstanding, Geraldo quasi-heroics and more (see this report in Accuracy in the Media), however, many journalists have been expressing a sincere commitment to stick to the story and those that derive from it, as Matea Gold writes in today’s LA Times.

This week CNN, NBC and other networks have announced plans to open New Orleans bureaus to stay close to the story, and Williams hopes to meet with network execs to plan future stories on related issues including, race, poverty, the environment, and Iraq.

Nikki Finke declares that the media moguls have already brought Katrina coverage back to “post 9/11 caution,” in this week’s LA Weekly.