Nearly two years ago - August 29, 2005, to be precise - Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana. The subsequent breach of the New Orleans levees left about 80% of the Crescent City flooded and caused tragic loss of life. 100 weeks later, New Orleans and the surrounding areas are slowly but surely rebuilding. The site of Zapp's potato chips in specialty grocery stores across the country is certainly a good sign for me personally. Tourism remains a critical element to the venerable city's recovery so please remember to spend money if you happen to be in the region ... and buy locally.
Time Inc. - the magazine publishing arm of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) - is paying tribute to New Orleans this month, with 10 of its magazines featuring articles about New Orleans. A Time cover story argues that the same bureaucratic mistakes are being made to shield the city against future storms. Essence follows up with 3 New Orleans families interviewed in 2005. Fortune looks at the economic state of the city and the impact of two years' worth of relief funds. Even Entertainment Weekly features a look at the Big Easy, featuring personal photos from R.E.M. lead singer MIchael Stipe, whose band recently released the song "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1."
Additional Time Inc. magazines publishing NOLA-related features this month include People, Money, and This Old House.
With hurricane season in full force once again, the world watches and hopes New Orleans and all of our global shorelines will never again suffer a similar fate. This month's campaign from Time Inc. hopes to educate readers and raise awareness. A New York Times article quoted Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time, as wanting the articles to "grab readers by the lapels and say 'this wasn't about a storm, this was about poor planning and poor preparation.' If there's a lesson to be learned, let's learn it."
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
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