Mike Walter: Update on BNBD Documentary

When I think back to five years ago, I think about the images. Sure, I remember the searing images of so much pain and suffering, but the lasting images of endurance that came to symbolize Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina are the ones that stay with me the most.

I remember my fateful call to Deirdre Stoelzle Graves from the airport in New Orleans. I mentioned off-handedly that the Dart Society’s “Target: New Orleans” effort, launched in 2007, would make a great documentary. I didn’t know that making the suggestion would make me a filmmaker.

I believe “Breaking News, Breaking Down” has done well because it’s one of those stories that anyone can appreciate and grow from seeing. It’s about overcoming adversity, and the growth that can come from the trials and tribulations of life. The film follows the Dart Society’s efforts in New Orleans , but also looks at the larger issue of how trauma impacts journalists. By showcasing this film in Sweden, Australia, the United States, Canada and France, we’ve been able to shine a light on the issue. We’ve also been able to introduce Dart to people who never would have had a chance to hear this remarkable story of trauma journalists blazing new trails in our business.

Next month the Voice of America is going to have me come and screen the film and talk about the issue of trauma with reporters for VOA. Managers at the VOA invited me to come and talk: that to me is a major milestone. In Australia the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is looking at this issue seriously and trying to help employees before difficulties arise. I’m so happy to be a part of the Dart mission, and to be spreading the word. I’m also happy that isn’t it just the journalists who are talking about this issue; slowly, but surely, some managers are coming to recognize this as an issue.

I will also show the film at the Toronto Independent Film Festival on September 11, the ninth anniversary of the attacks on New York, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon. In the film I describe the impact of witnessing the Pentagon being hit and how that trauma led me to the Dart community. After the showing I will head to Atlanta to screen part of the film and talk about the issue at the Carter Center.

So while many people look back rightly at all the problems that happened after the hurricane hit and all that still needs to be done in New Orleans five years later, I will always remember the power not of the hurricane, but the power of storytelling, of redemption, and of the human spirit. On this anniversary I will also think about the power of possibility. I will remember the Dart Society experiment of sending visiting journalists to work alongside the battered and beleaguered journalists of New Orleans. I will remember the bonds created there. I will remember how small steps can have a monumental impact. I will remember how that one phone conversation has changed the course of my life. I will remember the triumph that came as a result of the tragedy.