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New Orleans – Sept 11: A Chinook helicopter drops sand bags to plug a levee break on the east side of the London Avenue Canal. Photo/Jerry Grayson/Helifilms Australia PTY Ltd/Getty Images

Last week, we alerted you that an editor at The Advocate defended the newspaper’s omission of the words “federal levee failure” when writing about the flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

This week, that same editor doubled down and took “umbrage” to our letters and stated that The Advocate‘s staffers “deserve better from the audience they serve…”

Bottom line, the editor has told two subscribers––in writing––that there’s no need to mention federal levee failure when writing about the 2005 flooding that took the lives of 1,392 people.

FACT: The editor admitted to using Katrina “shorthand.”
FACT: Years ago, the Associated Press issued a style guide to all its reporters worldwide alerting them that when writing about the 2005 flooding of New Orleans, they must add that levee failure played a major role.

If you haven’t yet, use this LINK and send an email to Senior Editor Rene Sanchez and request that The Advocate issue a style guide to its reporters stating that whenever writing about the flooding of New Orleans, they must add that levee failure played a major role.

Best if you click by 5:00p Fri Feb 14.

Resources:
Email string between the Opinion Page Editor at The Advocate and Ms. Catherine Wells
The AP’s Katrina memo to reporters worldwide
Recent Advocate story that uses Katrina shorthand

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Anthony Bertucci calls in the status of the floodwall at London Avenue Canal’s upper breach near Robert E. Lee Boulevard.

Recently, an editor at The Advocate told one of its subscribers that there’s no need to mention federal levee failure when writing about the 2005 flooding that took the lives of 1,392 people.

The Editor was responding to a Letter-to-the-Editor from Cathy Hightower, a 50-year subscriber whose father perished in the flooding.

In an email, the Editor told Ms. Hightower that when The Advocate says “Katrina devastated New Orleans” that it’s a “shorthand.”

The Editor didn’t stop there. The Editor also added “…we don’t explain why the sky is blue when we write about the weather.”

• FACT: The Editor admitted to using Katrina Shorthand.
• FACT: Years ago, the Associated Press issued a memo to its reporters worldwide alerting them that when writing about the 2005 flooding of New Orleans, they must add that levee failure played a major role.
• FACT: The local Weekly Gambit issued a similar memo in 2010.