New Orleans Times-Picayune

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The Times-Picayune
The September 2, 2005 front page of The Times-Picayune
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet

Owner	Advance Publications
Publisher	Ashton Phelps Jr.
Editor	Jim Amoss
Founded	January 25, 1837
Political allegiance	Moderate to conservative
Headquarters	3800 Howard Avenue New Orleans, LA 70125 United States

Website: www.nola.com

The Times-Picayune is the major daily U.S. newspaper serving New Orleans, Louisiana.

The newspaper began publishing in 1837 as the Picayune, named after the Spanish coin equivalent to 6¼¢ (1/16 dollar)—which was the price of the paper. It became The Times-Picayune after merging with its rival paper in 1914. S.I. Newhouse bought the Times-Picayune and the other remaining New Orleans daily, the States-Item, in 1962, and merged the papers in 1980. The merged paper was called The Times-Picayune/The States-Item from 1980 to 1986.^[1] Specific community editions of the newspaper are also circulated and retain the Picayune name (e.g., Gretna Picayune for nearby Gretna). The paper is owned by Advance Publications, owned by the Newhouse family.

Through the years writers like William Faulkner and O. Henry have worked for the paper. It was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes in 1997, and in 2006 won two more Pulitzer Prizes for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina. The paper also received the George Polk Award^[2] given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.

The paper's editorial stance is moderate to conservative, depending on the subject. It generally endorses Republicans in state and federal elections.^{[citation needed]} It endorsed George W. Bush for president in 2000, but endorsed no presidential candidate in 2004. In gubernatorial contests it endorsed Mike Foster and later Bobby Jindal . In the mayoral race of 2006, the Times-Picayune endorsed right-leaning Democrat Ron Forman in the primary election and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu in the runoff.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

As Hurricane Katrina hit, the newspaper's staff of 140 first tried to ride the storm out in the center of the building housing the newspaper, sleeping in sleeping bags and on air mattresses. After deciding to evacuate, they set up operations in classrooms in Baton Rouge, on the Louisiana State University campus.

The August 30, August 31, and September 1, 2005 editions were not printed, but were available online, as was the paper's breaking news weblog. A weblog entry for August 30 written by Bruce Nolan gave the paper's first summary of the disaster:

"Hurricane Katrina struck metropolitan New Orleans on Monday with a staggering blow, far surpassing Hurricane Betsy, the landmark disaster of an earlier generation. The storm flooded huge swaths of the city, as well as Slidell on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, in a process that appeared to be spreading even as night fell."^[3]

After three days of online-only publication, the paper began to produce a free 16-page printed edition, with help from other newspapers.

The paper published a strongly-worded open letter to President George W. Bush in its September 4 edition, criticizing him for the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina and calling for the firing of FEMA chief Michael D. Brown.

In a January 14, 2006 address to the American Bar Association's Communications Lawyers Forum, Times-Picayune editor Jim Amoss commented on perhaps the greatest challenge that the staff faced then, and continued to face as the future of New Orleans is contemplated:

"For us, Katrina is and will be a defining moment of our lives, a story we'll be telling till the day we die. Being a part of the plot is both riveting and deeply unsettling. We don't yet know the end of this story ... It's the story of our lives, and we must both live and chronicle it."^[4]

The paper's two 2006 Pulitzer Prizes included a shared prize for public service with the staff of The Sun Herald in similarly affected Biloxi, Mississippi. In addition to the current staff being awarded a Pulitzer, former Times Picayune editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich won the Pulitzer for his cartoons, featuring some in New Orleans Magazine.

The post-Katrina experience affected the paper's staff. On August 8, 2006, staff photographer John McCusker was arrested and hospitalized after he led police on a high-speed chase and then used his vehicle as a weapon apparently hoping that they would kill him.^[5]. McCusker was released from the hospital by mid-August, saying he could not recall the incident, which was apparently sparked by the failure to receive an insurance settlement for his damaged house. He will still face criminal charges. The episode led to the establishment of a support fund for McCusker and for other Times-Picayune staff, which collected some $200,000 in just a few days.^[6] In October, columnist Chris Rose admitted to seeking treatment for clinical depression after a year of "crying jags" and other emotionally isolating behavior.^[7]

[edit] References

^ Times-Picayune (search listing). Library of Congress Online Catalog. Retrieved on 2006-05-03.
^ George Polk Awards for Journalism press release. Long Island University. Retrieved on November 15, 2006.
^ Nolan, Bruce. "The overview: 'Look, look man: It’s gone'", The Times-Picayune, 2005-08-31. Retrieved on 2006-05-03.
^ Deutsch, Linda. "New Orleans 'Times-Picayune' Trying to Report, Survive", Editor & Publisher, 2006-01-16. Retrieved on 2006-05-03.
^ Daryl Lang. "Suicidal New Orleans Times-Picayune Photographer Arrested", Photo District News, August 9, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Daryl Lang. "Times-Picayune Photographer John McCusker Out Of Hospital", Photo District News, August 17, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ "Hell and Back", New Orleans Times-Picayune, October 22, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.

Leading the team of Times-Picayune staff who stayed during coverage of Hurricane Katrina to report on the city's struggle, looting, and desperation among its citizens was David Meeks, who at the time was the Times-Picayune sports editor. He begged for a company truck and arranged for about a dozzen staffers to stay in the wake of Katrina and continue reporting.