By Awatef Abdel-Rahman Hurricane Katrina exposed criminal negligence on the part of American state and federal authorities which, in the face of ample warnings, failed in their duty towards the inhabitants of the areas affected by the hurricane. The American authorities' failure to take the necessary measures, and the subsequent delay in offering assistance to the inhabitants of New Orleans, revealed glaring flaws in their ability, and indeed their willingness, to deal with natural disasters. They also revealed the chasm between what are in effect two societies, separated by income and race. The response of the US media to the disaster was hardly encouraging. It restricted itself to focusing on warnings, covering the catastrophe itself and then garnering support and invoking sympathy to facilitate the collection of donations. While these might be commendable short-term aims the media also has a responsibility to follow up on the psychological, social and economic effects of hurricane Katrina and, perhaps most important of all, to hammer home the lessons that should be learned. Pollution, particularly of industrial waste, plays a primary role in global warming. And scientists have long predicted that global warming will lead to the kind of extreme weather that has typified this year's hurricane season. That weather, they have been saying for years, will first become apparent in the Caribbean. Yet in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence President Bush rescinded the Kyoto Treaty. The price New Orleans paid for such shortsightedness will soon be overshadowed by other, more dreadful disasters. There are two kinds of disaster coverage. The first reports the event as it unrolls. The second focuses on the causes of the disaster and the lessons that may be learned in order to prevent a reoccurrence. The US media showed itself more than able to deal with the first kind of reporting. The danger, though, is that it treated Hurricane Katrina as an exceptional event. Unless the media now focuses on the causes behind that disaster -- ie, begins to responsibly report on the dangers of continued global warming caused by industrial emissions -- then the experience of New Orleans will not remain an exception for long. This week's Soapbox speaker is professor of mass communication at Cairo University.
