Journalists as first responders

Michael Fancher, the executive editor at The Seattle Times, published an eloquent essay in the Sept. 4 edition in his regular Sunday column, "Inside The Times."

In this column, Fancher includes journalists among the first responders on the scenes of numerous disasters.

Think about the people we call "first responders."

Chances are you thought about the men and women in police, fire and possibly military uniforms. They are the ones first on the scene of any disaster, prepared to do their jobs under the worst circumstances imaginable. They are genuine heroes.

Now think about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of entire communities along the Gulf Coast. When the wind and water were gone, so were homes, hopes and dreams.

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Think about the people we call "first responders."

Chances are you didn't think about the men and women with notebooks, pens, cameras and microphones. They, too, are the ones first on the scene of any disaster, prepared to do their jobs under the worst circumstances imaginable.

Fancher writes that the journalists on the scene, particularly now along the Gulf Coast hit by Hurricane Katrina, have played an important role in the rescue and relief operations. Certainly, spreading the news of this calamity has resulted in an outpouring of resources and aid from people around the nation and world. The role of journalists is important to document, to notify, to call attention, to advocate.

When I think of those first responders, I think about the men and women of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, who were forced to evacuate their building Tuesday. At first they had no way to print and distribute their newspaper, but they continued to publish online even as their own homes and lives were torn apart.

By Friday, The Times-Picayune was being printed at the Houma Courier, a neighboring newspaper owned by The New York Times, and distributed to evacuees living in shelters. Jim Amoss, a New Orleans native and editor of The Times-Picayune since 1990, told CNN that people grabbed the newspaper like it was food.

First responders also help people before disasters, and The Times-Picayune certainly tried. In 2002 it published a five-part series that was prescient. The summary of the series said, "It's only a matter of time before South Louisiana takes a direct hit from a major hurricane. Billions have been spent to protect us, but we grow more vulnerable every day."

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You probably have your own unforgettable images and stories from the hurricane. Stop to consider what someone had to do to capture those moments.

Thinking about journalists as first responders takes nothing away from the men and women in police, fire and military uniforms. Without the courage, service and sacrifice of emergency rescue workers, we would be lost. They are genuine heroes.

But, as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina shows, so too are the first responders of the press.

It's been a week when I have turned to my newspaper, my television, my radio and my computer to get news from a place I have never visited about people I don't know. I have found comfort in the reliable voices informing me from this distance, and I have trusted them when they express frustration and outrage on behalf of us all. I have found myself missing the voices of comfort that I trusted in these times for so long: Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings. But Brian Williams and Aaron Brown and many others have supplied coverage so comprehensive and sensitive and rich that I believe a new generation of voices has risen to replace those that have faded.

These journalists have been first responders here, and I hope they will always be among the first responders in the future.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.