Katrina wrecked the city and the press was there to cover the event. Water rushed into the city through wide breaches in the levees. Helicopter crews, boats and big trucks rescued thousands. The President visited and pledged to rebuild. CNN offered 24 by 7 Situation Room Coverage of events as they unfolded and kept on following the story until it was eclipsed by Rita and the evacuation of Houston a month later. Fox, MSNBC and others did the same.

The small screen tended to focus on the spectacular and showed the same stories over and over. I can't tell you how many times I wanted the camera to pull back to a wider shot so I could see the context in which a story was set. Context is not something the press delivers very well.

Follow up is another missing factor. We saw the angry citizen defending his right to stay in his home. Where is he now? We saw the thousands evacuated from the dome, the convention center and the streets. Where are they now? The bigger story is about what will happen next.

Will the city rebuild? Will the bureaucracies improve their performance?

Ten weeks after the storm the flooding is gone, and the press is gone too. Focus has moved to newer stories. Another supreme court justice is being considered by the Senate. There's rioting in France,  the bird flu,  Chaney's aid indicted.  These are the hot stories now . We'll have to wait  for John Stossel to provide an expose on FEMA, the Corps and the Red Cross next year. Oh, and by the way the War in Iraq is grinding on.

In fact the local pols are telling the people it's time for them to take the story to Washington and demand the Cat 5 levees. It almost sounds like they want to organize a march on the White House.