On "Post-Katrina broadcasting was radio at its finest" (
9/20 RBR #184):
I normally would not reply but I was horrified by the e-mail you printed from Peter Stormquist today. He must be the ONLY person in Washington Parish that thought WWL did a great job for them. Now I'm not trying to bash their efforts. They were wonderful for New Orleans and once or twce a day they made a passing mention of Washington or St Tammany Parish. What Mr. Stormquist did not mention was during that entire time, Jack Seymour was on WUUU, the ONLY station broadcasting in Washington Parish.
Each day from 8AM until his voice died, Seymour manned the station. The Parish President said without Seymour people may not have made it. The Sheriff relied on Seymour for ALL critical communication. All during a time when Seymour's own home had damage. He stayed on by using a portable generator (the station's had been destroyed) and they had gas hauled in over 200 miles one way to keep it going. During the whole time he never complained. Residents came to the station to use the e-mail to contact others. He matched posts on internet boards with local residents and let them know people were OK. He even got food for the people of Bogalusa when they had none.
I guess the reason I write is, the media (us) keep forgetting there was more than New Orleans that suffered damage. There was more than WWL on the air. I'm sure there were other stations much like WUUU that went over and above. Let's hear about some of those people. Not just stations in New Orleans that have huge staffs equipped to handle this.
Let's hear about the Jack Seymours of radio that did it all by themself!
Sincerely,
Michael R. Schutta, VP/Pittman Broadcasting
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