Stories We're Not Seeing on Katrina

My journalism roots have kept me glued to the TV this week. Having walked the streets of New Orleans just 15 months ago, I cannot believe the damage.

In an interesting observation from a relative who lives in Germany, European media are questioning why we keep seeing the same images. I don't mean similar -- I mean the same. This is not just true on CNN Europe. We are seeing the same images, too.

If I were a field producer, this is the story I would want. Since I know nothing of the logistics of this, I don't mean this as a critique. There are plenty of others blasting the government that I will leave that to them. Instead, I ask the following: If Cuba (for instance) had launched a surprise ground invasion on New Orleans on a given Monday night, how long would it have taken for us to get troops on the ground? How soon would paratroopers have been landing?

There may be a good explanation why we did not immediately send in hundreds or thousands of paratroopers to immediately secure the area and then immediately follow that with air drops. When I was in Germany in 1995, we drove by a U.S. airbase, and we could see thousands of palates of humanitarian relief supplies waiting to be air dropped in the Balkans. Why was that not done here? Again, I think it is of no use for me to allege that it could have been done, as I have no training here. But I would like to see CNN, Fox, or the Big Three flush this out. There may be a good answer. As a citizen and former editor, I want to know.

Secondly, what major corporations are headquartered in New Orleans? What are their plans? We know that most of "white collar" New Orleans was evacuated in advance of the hurricane. Where are those people? What are their plans? These are the kind of in-depth journalistic pieces that I would like to see but have not.

In other news, I just logged on to the Red Cross Web site and donated money. I urge any and all readers to do the same.