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A small town responds to tragedy with quiet dignityA month ago, few people in America could find Greensburg, Kan., on a map. Even many Kansans would have been hard pressed, to tell you the truth. In only a few weeks time, this rural farm town has suffered destruction on a Biblical scale. Veteran meteorologists reported on the EF-5 tornado with awe because a tornado that powerful is extremely rare. Greensburg leapt from just another town struck with a tornado, to a town wiped off the map and worthy of a visit by the President of the United States. That's enough to bring Greensburg to the attention of a host of news crews. Many of whom have no experience in rural America. As a journalist and a rural resident, I was proud of how the townspeople of Greensburg seemed to handle the cameras and the lights. There was no finger-pointing, no blame-shifting, just simple determination and optimism from everyone interviewed. Maybe that's why the national camera trucks didn't hang around too long--there just wasn't anything juicy to report. Considering that every other national disaster to garner this much attention was plagued with conspiracy theories, and people shouting about injustices, we can take a lesson from the people of this community on how to handle the media spotlight. There was the sight of a small school district superintendent quietly but firmly standing his ground in front of a horde of television cameras and reporters tossing questions right and left. He told the press that while the school is no longer there, the district is doing everything in its power to return to normalcy. Reporters from large cities may have marveled at his assurances that a graduation would happen for the seniors of Greensburg High School, but those of us from small towns know that life must go on in the face of tragedy. Or, how about the nearby emergency personnel, who responded in the dead of night from surrounding counties? Within minutes there were response teams pulling people from the rubble and setting up command posts for survivors. They didn't wait for the government to send help--they answered their neighbors' calls. How odd that must have been for reporters used to covering the aftermath of disasters where the mayor, the city police, the county commissioners, and the governor pass blame around like a toxic hot potato. How refreshing it must have been to report on a Democratic governor, two Republican Senators and two Republican Congressman working in harmony to get disaster relief to the people who needed it right away, instead of using the situation to earn approval ratings for the next election. Oh, there were attempts at finding the petty political bickering in the news reports. The story about how Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was "attacking" the Bush administration for the severe cut in Kansas National Guard resources for the storm turned out to be a sidebar in the coverage. Afterall, she'd been saying the same thing for the past two years--that if the War on Terror were to continue to draw down National Guard equipment and troops from the states, when a major disaster strikes we'd better pray we have enough here at home to help. Fortunately this time we did. There was the coverage of the six looters who were caught impersonating response personnel. Justice was swiftly carried in their cases. All are in jail and no bail bondsman in the state will help them out. Even that was on a minor scale compared to some disasters, however. The spotlight around Greensburg is fading as we move on into recovery. A year from now we'll have the retrospectives on the small town in Kansas. We'll re-tell the stories of the victims, and stories of survival and hope. We'll show the rebuilding efforts. Life will go on. I would hope though, that for the national news crews who visited our little Eden in rural America, and for the urban viewers who saw their coverage, that this experience will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I hope that the next time they are sent to cover a fire, a hurricane, or some other devastation that they remember the quiet dignity of the people of Greensburg. And, may we all take a lesson from their response. Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com. C 5 5/21/07 Date: 5/11/07
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