I came across an article By Dave Walker that talks about the Special Investigation Unit: Children of the Storm with Soledad O’Brien and Spike Lee that aired tonight as part of CNN's coverage for the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I pulled out some bits of the article that caught my eye.
With an assist from filmmaker Spike Lee, CNN's Soledad O'Brien took a chance on some amateurs in hopes of getting fresh perspectives on New Orleans' recovery at K+2.
"Honestly, it was, 'How do we tell the (second) anniversary story?'" O'Brien said. "We'd just come off the first anniversary, and I thought, 'How are we going to tell the story next year?' You just can't go back and stand in front of collapsed buildings and stand in front of a levee and do it again. We might be doing that for the next 10 to 15 years. How are we going to tell the story in a way that's going to capture people and make them understand what the progress is or isn't?
"We just decided to hand out cameras to young people. I, literally one night, woke up in the middle of the night and said to my husband, 'Oh my God, I've got it. We can hand out cameras.' "
About 30 kids made the first cut for the project, O'Brien said, and that number was whittled down to the 11 who got cameras. Four -- Deshawn Dabney, Brandon Franklin, Amanda Hill and Shantia Reneau -- get the spotlight Wednesday. "We picked the right age. They were old enough to be self-reflective and young enough to be very natural. "The one thing that amazed me most of all was that they were so positive," she said. "It was a real sense of hope and future in New Orleans as opposed to, 'We're going to put on a brave face and be hopeful.'
"Honestly, it was, 'How do we tell the (second) anniversary story?'" O'Brien said. "We'd just come off the first anniversary, and I thought, 'How are we going to tell the story next year?' You just can't go back and stand in front of collapsed buildings and stand in front of a levee and do it again. We might be doing that for the next 10 to 15 years. How are we going to tell the story in a way that's going to capture people and make them understand what the progress is or isn't?
"We just decided to hand out cameras to young people. I, literally one night, woke up in the middle of the night and said to my husband, 'Oh my God, I've got it. We can hand out cameras.' "
About 30 kids made the first cut for the project, O'Brien said, and that number was whittled down to the 11 who got cameras. Four -- Deshawn Dabney, Brandon Franklin, Amanda Hill and Shantia Reneau -- get the spotlight Wednesday. "We picked the right age. They were old enough to be self-reflective and young enough to be very natural. "The one thing that amazed me most of all was that they were so positive," she said. "It was a real sense of hope and future in New Orleans as opposed to, 'We're going to put on a brave face and be hopeful.'
To read the full article with Soledad click here
I found this special to be so well done. Probably one of the best Special Investigation Units done for CNN to date. Here are screen caps from tonight's show. A big thanks to Book Asylum for the caps.
You can see more videos on cnn.com from tonight's SIU
In case you did not catch it tonight, SIU: Children of the Storm will be airing again Saturday and Sunday nights at 8:00PM
4 comments:
I missed the special but will be sure to catch it this weekend. All the previews looked really good. I've never been a huge fan of Spike Lee's but this is something I can be a fan of!
I missed it too. It looked really interesting so I'll need to catch it this weekend.
I thought this program was innovative.I hope
CNN does more programs like this in the
future.
This is one of my favorites too. So personal, so interesting. I'm not a morning person, and when I had a regular job we usually listened to our favorite radio personalities in the morning.
So I never saw Soledad in the mornings. I noticed she has a very direct delivery when she sub'd for Anderson. She doesn't mince words...not that that's bad--in fact I would like to see more of it especially where Katrina is concerned.
Forget (I had to clean this word up) Mayor Nagin...who care whether we hear directly from him. What can he say that speaks louder than his actions? Tell us like it is, place the blame where the blame is due.
I hope that 17 year old young man is the next mayor of NOLA!
Can I make an interview request? Randi Kaye! That woman is all over the place. She must have more frequent flyer miles than anyone in the country! Anderson relies on her so much, and I really miss her when she's gone.
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