[IRCA] WWL experiences

[JPOGUE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Fello DXers, I hope you will indulge me a little. I am giving a speech 
next week to members of the local chapter of the Public Relations 
Society of America (PRSA) about my experiences in Baton Rouge as the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Public Affairs Officer for the Louisiana 
Recovery Field Office. I devote a couple of pages of my remarks to the 
work done by WWL and the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans, and 
how we worked together to help the people affected by the hurricanes. 
Some of you may find this extract boring and TMI, but I hope some of 
you find it interesting and not too far off topic. Thanks. Jim Pogue, 
Memphis, TN

     When Katrina hit New Orleans, some of its most severely affected 
victims were radio and TV stations. Most were simply knocked off the 
air with severe damage to their studios, transmitters or both. One 
notable exception was the 50,000-watt, clear channel blowtorch AM 
station in the area, WWL.
WWL was able to get back on the air quickly, and with a coverage area 
that blankets most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains at 
night and reaches almost to Memphis during the day, they were an 
absolute lifeline for people affected by the hurricane.
     They also put together a coalition of other radio stations in the 
area as they came on the air to form what they called the United Radio 
Broadcasters of New Orleans. This ad hoc network eventually included 
nine AM stations, nine FM stations and a short wave station in South 
Carolina that was heard in every part of the globe including Europe, 
Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
     The program hosts spent much of their time accepting calls in the 
typical radio talk show format from listeners who were looking for lost 
relatives, seeking assistance, or just wanted to complain. I was able 
to get the secret “hot line” numbers however, that got me to the head 
of the line when I called in.
     I made it a practice to call in almost every morning for about the 
first month I was there to talk up some of the good work we were doing. 
I frequently explained the basic process storm victims needed to go 
through to get a blue roof, who qualified, who didn’t and why they 
didn’t, the locations of new walk-in centers for the blue roof program 
when they opened, information on debris pickup and how people could 
sort their debris to speed the cleanup, safety hazards … and the list 
goes on and on. I never had a shortage of topics to discuss, and the 
program hosts always seemed glad to hear from me.
     Another way in which having an ongoing relationship with the radio 
station proved valuable was in rumor control … a real problem in the 
aftermath of the storm. Several times I received phone calls from our 
field personnel saying, “870 AM is telling people that the Corps is not 
going to put any more blue roofs on after Friday,” or something 
similar. I could pick up the phone, dial the hot line and usually be on 
the air broadcasting the correct information in five minutes or less. 
This was a very powerful tool in the public information arena.
     An example of how effective this medium was in reaching the public 
involved a problem we were having early in the blue roof mission. The 
Corps was working with FEMA to set up a call center where the public 
could get information on where to apply for a temporary roof. We … the 
Corps … felt like we were ready to go and that the public could benefit 
from the service. FEMA was hesitant, however, and instead of being 
willing to accept a 90 percent solution, wanted everything up and 
running perfectly when we pulled the trigger. The effect, however, was 
that the public was not getting the latest and most accurate 
information they needed. I had the information … a list of 30 or so 
locations and hours of operation … in paper form. The public needed the 
information.
     During one of my call-ins to WWL at about 9 in the morning, I was 
apparently pretty worn out because anything resembling common sense 
simply vanished from my brain. I said on the air, “if anyone needs 
information on where to apply for a blue roof, they can call me at … 
and I gave out my cellphone number.”
     Holy cow! My phone nearly jumped off my belt. As a matter of fact, 
I still occasionally get calls from people looking for information 
about how to get assistance. My co-workers thought I was crazy to have 
given out the number … and at some point … so did I. But in retrospect, 
it was the right thing to do. I was able to connect the public with the 
assistance they needed until the call center was up and running. It 
made my life even more chaotic for a few days, but I really have no 
regrets.
     One last anecdote regarding the call-ins to WWL. One morning I was 
waiting my turn to talk, and was listening to the caller just ahead of 
me speak to the program host. Suddenly, he launched into a tirade about 
how he knew with certainty that the Corps of Engineers had blown the 
levees in New Orleans to save the rich people at the expense of the 
poor people. He said he’d heard this on CNN and even had the name of 
the Corps public affairs officer in Vicksburg, by then my recently 
retired boss, and that he was the source of the report.
     The radio talk show host then said, “Well, we have Jim Pogue on 
the line from the Corps of Engineers, and I’m sure he’ll be happy to 
respond to that. Jim …?”
     My friends, I hope you are never in that pair of shoes. With 
thousands of listeners throughout the region listening to their radios, 
I was being asked a question that was completely outside my lane since 
another group of Corps Public Affairs personnel were handling the levee 
questions, and the listener had made a strong argument that seemed to 
indicate he knew what he was talking about.
     I took a quick, deep breath. I was as honest as I could be, and 
said I didn’t know enough about the caller’s statement to give a 
detailed answer. But that I could say with complete certainty that the 
Corps did NOT blow the levee and would never do anything like that 
which would intentionally endanger the lives of anyone. As for the 
report the listener said he heard from my former boss, I said I wasn’t 
aware of the interview, but that at the early stages of the disaster we 
were very much in a situation like a war, and that the analogy of the 
fog of battle applied there just as well. I said that early reports 
were often sketchy, incomplete and inaccurate, and that I was sure 
whatever he had heard fell into that category.
     To my surprise, the program host paused briefly, thanked me for 
being forthright and honest about the situation, and moved on to the 
topic I had called to discuss. 
I wonder if listeners heard my audible sigh of relief at that point?


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