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The Advocate continues to live in the past

Thursday, March 6th, 2025

Cars were neatly deposited on the roofs of houses in Chalmette about 10 miles south of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Credit: Andy Levin/Polaris

Alex Lubben, a reporter for The Advocate, recently called me for commentary on Governor Jeff Landry’s plans to dismantle the SLFPA nominating committee created after Katrina.

I told Lubben that the levee board “reforms” passed 20 years ago were a distraction. I explained that the “reforms” drew attention away from the true culprit, the USACE. The flooding was due to federal engineering failure, not to anything the pre-Katrina levee boards did or didn’t do.

Lubben did not quote me. And instead he re-printed all the tired worn out statements that blamed the pre-Katrina levee boards for the flooding. And failed to mention the Army Corps of Engineers and its role.

Meanwhile, reporters for The Advocate continue to use something called “Katrina shorthand.” This is saying things like “Katrina ravaged New Orleans” rather than using words like “federal levee failure” when describing the flooding in New Orleans.

For the recent story by Lubben, click here.

The Advocate Digs in Heels Disparaging Flood Survivors

Thursday, February 13th, 2025

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.

Editor at The Advocate has Unusual Response to a Subscriber

Thursday, February 6th, 2025

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.