Tomorrow I leave for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The area was 95% destroyed by Hurricane Rita last September and, from what I understand so far, has been unable to make a lot of progress in rebuilding. I'll be staying in a church because all the hotels are full up with people who had their homes destroyed. I called almost every hotel in the area and every person I talked to sounded exhausted. They all said they knew of absolutely no rooms available in the area. FEMA has been paying for people to stay in the hotels, but according to a Lake Charles newspaper employee I spoke with, will be pulling the plug on that money in February. Since FEMA is also not letting people return to their properties for the most part, I don't understand this.
I don't have an assignment and am going on my own and will be looking for a publication for the images on my return. I'm also going to be gathering audio for the first time which I hope will make the photos more attractive to online publications. One newspaper editor I talked to briefly told me his readership wouldn't be interested in the story as it doesn't pertain to them directly. I believe that one of the only reasons people "aren't" interested in things that don't pertain to them directly is that newspapers don't publish these stories in a very readable, interesting way. Newspapers seem to have lost their touch with the sensibilities of humanity.
New and better ways of bringing people information are necessary. Ways that allow interaction and control and that offer the immediatecy of a chat room or MySpace. Blogs and audio slideshows are part of it, but outlets as mainstream as newspapers have to upgrade themselves in terms of writing styles and arresting photographs in order to remain relevant, keep their readership and actually perform their purpose, which is to inform communities of important events and issues.
But Louisiana will be a good trip. I'll be in Cajun country among alligators and nutria and who knows what's going to happen.