By MERVIN BLOCK
August 2007

“We’re beginning tonight with a CBS News exclusive,” Kate Couric said on May 16, 2007–“another scandal in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“Many survivors of the killer storm are now getting sick,” she said on the Evening News, “and their government-provided trailers may be to blame. Nearly two years after Katrina, 86-thousand families are still living in FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] trailers, and every day more and more of them are developing health problems. We have two reports tonight, beginning with our chief investigative correspondent, Armen Keteyian.”

Before we look at what he said, let’s look again at what she said; she’s the anchor and the managing editor:

“Many survivors…are now getting sick.” True—but far from new. And certainly not exclusive. Now getting sick? Ten months earlier, MSNBC.com ran an article, on July 25, 2006, titled: “Private testing finds high levels of formaldehyde; residents report illnesses.” The residents were living in FEMA trailers.

Two weeks before Couric broadcast that lead-in, Dan Rather said on HDTV, “Now we’re learning that some of these trailers appear to be toxic. And some of the people who moved into these temporary shelters say the trailers have been making them sick.” Now we’re learning?

Rather’s 20-minute (or so) “Toxic Trailers” began, on May 2, with Gulf Coast residents Paul and Melody Stewart of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Among others who figured in Dan Rather Reports that night were Becky Gillette and Dr. Scott Needle.

Three months earlier, Gillette, Dr. Needle and the Stewarts had been quoted in a long article posted at The Nation’s website (thenation.com) on Feb. 14. The article was titled “Dying for a Home: Toxic Trailers Are Making Katrina Refugees Sick.”

Amanda Spake wrote: “Along the Gulf Coast, in the towns and fishing villages from New Orleans to Mobile, survivors of Hurricane Katrina are suffering from a constellation of similar health problems. They wake up wheezing, coughing and gasping for breath. Their eyes burn; their heads ache; they feel tired, lethargic. Nosebleeds are common, as are sinus infections and asthma attacks. Children and seniors are most severely afflicted, but no one is immune.” The author also mentioned Angela Orcutt, a teacher, and her three-year-old son, Nicky.

Four months after that article ran, both Orcutts and Dr. Needle showed up in the “exclusive” CBS package on May 16. After Couric’s intro, presented above, Armen Keteyian featured snippets of interviews with them. He also interviewed a supervisor at a factory making trailers.

Keteyian said Dr. Needle, a pediatrician, was the first to notice that Nicky Orcutt was not alone in becoming ill. But the article at thenation.com in February said the doctor was “one of the first” to notice an unusual number of illnesses among trailer residents. Dr. Needle also appeared in Rather’s story on May 2.

Keteyian said CBS “has discovered this internal FEMA document that cites cancer as a potential job hazard for those just inspecting the trailers.” He also caught up with FEMA’s top administrator, David Paulison, on Capitol Hill. Paulison said he hadn’t heard that dozens of children were sick. Then a CBS Washington correspondent reported on several aspects of Katrina.

Dr. Needle, Becky Gillette, and Paul and Melody Stewart appeared in print together in a long article posted by MSNBC.com on July 25, 2006. MSNBC.com. Seven months later, all of them, except Gillette, were quoted in The Nation’s article. But Rather included Gillette in his story, along with Dr. Needle and the Stewarts.

Two nights after Keteyian’s first report, Couric returned to the trailer troubles and again called CBS’s story exclusive. She credited it with “exposing an emerging health crisis.” And again she began by saying she was beginning:

“We’re beginning tonight with a CBS News exclusive, a follow-up on our report exposing an emerging health crisis for thousands of survivors of Hurricane Katrina. As we reported earlier this week, many people living in trailers provided by FEMA are getting sick. Tonight we can tell you FEMA has known for a long time that the trailers are toxic but did little about it. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian, who first broke this story, has the follow-up tonight.” (“First broke” is redundant. If you break a story, you are the first.)

Tonight we can tell you? With that, Couric implied that she was the first to bring that information to public attention. In fact, FEMA issued a news release on Aug. 8, 2006, headed, “FEMA To Test Methods To Reduce Formaldehyde In Travel Trailers.”

The MSNBC.com article of Aug. 4, 2006, by Mike Brunker, said FEMA’s director of mobile home operations in Mississippi asserted the agency “has determined that there is a problem with elevated formaldehyde levels in ‘two or three’ of the at least 10 brands of travel trailers [supplied by FEMA after Katrina].”

Ten days later, on Aug. 14, 2006, CNN.com reported, “Last week, FEMA also announced it will begin testing its trailers for toxic levels of formaldehyde after people in the trailers complained of sickness and local officials and environmental groups raised concerns.”

But, as widely reported, FEMA was not responsive, and Rather said on May 2, “FEMA hasn’t been listening.”

After Couric’s lead-in on May 18, Keteyian said: “Twenty-one months after Hurricane Katrina virtually blew the Gulf Coast off the map, some 86-thousand families still call these FEMA travel trailers home. As we reported earlier this week, formaldehyde fumes seeping from these trailers pose a serious health risk to some young children. On Wednesday the man in charge at FEMA, David Paulison, had this to say on Capitol Hill.”

Paulison said on camera: “The formaldehyde issue was brought to our attention, and we actually went out and investigated. We used EPA and some other agencies to do testing. We’ve been told that the formaldehyde does not present a health hazard.”

Two months later, on July 19, Couric said on the Evening News:

“A lot of people were outraged by our exclusive CBS News investigation two months ago which found that thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims are living in trailers that are just plain unhealthy. Well, today the outrage spread to Congress, where House members accused FEMA of a cover-up. Two years after Katrina, 76-thousand FEMA trailers are still being used to house families who lost their homes. Many of the trailers have high levels of formaldehyde, which can result in dangerous respiratory problems. Chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian’s reporting triggered today’s congressional hearing.”

His reporting “triggered” the Congressional hearing? That is news.

Then Keteyian reported:

“The chairman of the hearing, Congressman Henry Waxman, blasted the disaster relief agency for receiving multiple warnings about dangerous levels of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers that could lead to asthma, sinus infections and other breathing problems….”

Four nights later, on July 23, Couric was still crediting CBS’s “chief investigative reporter” with breaking the story:

“And now an update on a story Armen [Keteyian] broke back in May about the health problems of Katrina refugees living in FEMA trailers. Congress heard reports last week that thousands of the trailers contained dangerously high levels of formaldehyde. But today FEMA said it will continue to sell and donate the trailers while government health officials test them.”

A story CBS broke? Please, give me a break. The real story is that a network anchor persists in calling an old story new. And calling it exclusive. Give me another break.

By MERVIN BLOCK
August 2007

“We’re beginning tonight with a CBS News exclusive,” Kate Couric said on May 16, 2007–“another scandal in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“Many survivors of the killer storm are now getting sick,” she said on the Evening News, “and their government-provided trailers may be to blame. Nearly two years after Katrina, 86-thousand families are still living in FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] trailers, and every day more and more of them are developing health problems. We have two reports tonight, beginning with our chief investigative correspondent, Armen Keteyian.”

Before we look at what he said, let’s look again at what she said; she’s the anchor and the managing editor:

“Many survivors…are now getting sick.” True—but far from new. And certainly not exclusive. Now getting sick? Ten months earlier, MSNBC.com ran an article, on July 25, 2006, titled: “Private testing finds high levels of formaldehyde; residents report illnesses.” The residents were living in FEMA trailers.

Two weeks before Couric broadcast that lead-in, Dan Rather said on HDTV, “Now we’re learning that some of these trailers appear to be toxic. And some of the people who moved into these temporary shelters say the trailers have been making them sick.” Now we’re learning?

Rather’s 20-minute (or so) “Toxic Trailers” began, on May 2, with Gulf Coast residents Paul and Melody Stewart of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Among others who figured in Dan Rather Reports that night were Becky Gillette and Dr. Scott Needle.

Three months earlier, Gillette, Dr. Needle and the Stewarts had been quoted in a long article posted at The Nation’s website (thenation.com) on Feb. 14. The article was titled “Dying for a Home: Toxic Trailers Are Making Katrina Refugees Sick.”

Amanda Spake wrote: “Along the Gulf Coast, in the towns and fishing villages from New Orleans to Mobile, survivors of Hurricane Katrina are suffering from a constellation of similar health problems. They wake up wheezing, coughing and gasping for breath. Their eyes burn; their heads ache; they feel tired, lethargic. Nosebleeds are common, as are sinus infections and asthma attacks. Children and seniors are most severely afflicted, but no one is immune.” The author also mentioned Angela Orcutt, a teacher, and her three-year-old son, Nicky.

Four months after that article ran, both Orcutts and Dr. Needle showed up in the “exclusive” CBS package on May 16. After Couric’s intro, presented above, Armen Keteyian featured snippets of interviews with them. He also interviewed a supervisor at a factory making trailers.

Keteyian said Dr. Needle, a pediatrician, was the first to notice that Nicky Orcutt was not alone in becoming ill. But the article at thenation.com in February said the doctor was “one of the first” to notice an unusual number of illnesses among trailer residents. Dr. Needle also appeared in Rather’s story on May 2.

Keteyian said CBS “has discovered this internal FEMA document that cites cancer as a potential job hazard for those just inspecting the trailers.” He also caught up with FEMA’s top administrator, David Paulison, on Capitol Hill. Paulison said he hadn’t heard that dozens of children were sick. Then a CBS Washington correspondent reported on several aspects of Katrina.

Dr. Needle, Becky Gillette, and Paul and Melody Stewart appeared in print together in a long article posted by MSNBC.com on July 25, 2006. MSNBC.com. Seven months later, all of them, except Gillette, were quoted in The Nation’s article. But Rather included Gillette in his story, along with Dr. Needle and the Stewarts.

Two nights after Keteyian’s first report, Couric returned to the trailer troubles and again called CBS’s story exclusive. She credited it with “exposing an emerging health crisis.” And again she began by saying she was beginning:

“We’re beginning tonight with a CBS News exclusive, a follow-up on our report exposing an emerging health crisis for thousands of survivors of Hurricane Katrina. As we reported earlier this week, many people living in trailers provided by FEMA are getting sick. Tonight we can tell you FEMA has known for a long time that the trailers are toxic but did little about it. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian, who first broke this story, has the follow-up tonight.” (“First broke” is redundant. If you break a story, you are the first.)

Tonight we can tell you? With that, Couric implied that she was the first to bring that information to public attention. In fact, FEMA issued a news release on Aug. 8, 2006, headed, “FEMA To Test Methods To Reduce Formaldehyde In Travel Trailers.”

The MSNBC.com article of Aug. 4, 2006, by Mike Brunker, said FEMA’s director of mobile home operations in Mississippi asserted the agency “has determined that there is a problem with elevated formaldehyde levels in ‘two or three’ of the at least 10 brands of travel trailers [supplied by FEMA after Katrina].”

Ten days later, on Aug. 14, 2006, CNN.com reported, “Last week, FEMA also announced it will begin testing its trailers for toxic levels of formaldehyde after people in the trailers complained of sickness and local officials and environmental groups raised concerns.”

But, as widely reported, FEMA was not responsive, and Rather said on May 2, “FEMA hasn’t been listening.”

After Couric’s lead-in on May 18, Keteyian said: “Twenty-one months after Hurricane Katrina virtually blew the Gulf Coast off the map, some 86-thousand families still call these FEMA travel trailers home. As we reported earlier this week, formaldehyde fumes seeping from these trailers pose a serious health risk to some young children. On Wednesday the man in charge at FEMA, David Paulison, had this to say on Capitol Hill.”

Paulison said on camera: “The formaldehyde issue was brought to our attention, and we actually went out and investigated. We used EPA and some other agencies to do testing. We’ve been told that the formaldehyde does not present a health hazard.”

Two months later, on July 19, Couric said on the Evening News:

“A lot of people were outraged by our exclusive CBS News investigation two months ago which found that thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims are living in trailers that are just plain unhealthy. Well, today the outrage spread to Congress, where House members accused FEMA of a cover-up. Two years after Katrina, 76-thousand FEMA trailers are still being used to house families who lost their homes. Many of the trailers have high levels of formaldehyde, which can result in dangerous respiratory problems. Chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian’s reporting triggered today’s congressional hearing.”

His reporting “triggered” the Congressional hearing? That is news.

Then Keteyian reported:

“The chairman of the hearing, Congressman Henry Waxman, blasted the disaster relief agency for receiving multiple warnings about dangerous levels of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers that could lead to asthma, sinus infections and other breathing problems….”

Four nights later, on July 23, Couric was still crediting CBS’s “chief investigative reporter” with breaking the story:

“And now an update on a story Armen [Keteyian] broke back in May about the health problems of Katrina refugees living in FEMA trailers. Congress heard reports last week that thousands of the trailers contained dangerously high levels of formaldehyde. But today FEMA said it will continue to sell and donate the trailers while government health officials test them.”

A story CBS broke? Please, give me a break. The real story is that a network anchor persists in calling an old story new. And calling it exclusive. Give me another break.