Recently, an editor with The Advocate told one of its subscribers that there's no need to mention federal levee failure when writing about the 2005 flooding catastrophe that took the lives of 1,392 people. 

The Editor was responding to a Letter-to-the-Editor from Cathy Hightower––a 50-year subscriber who lost her father in the flooding. In an email, the Editor told Ms. Hightower that simply writing “Katrina devastated New Orleans” in the newspaper's stories is acceptable as a "shorthand.” 

The Editor didn't stop there. The Editor also added “...we don’t explain why the sky is blue when we write about the weather." 

Using Katrina Shorthand is lazy and sloppy and dishonors the souls who perished as well as the survivors of the flooding.

Years ago, the Associated Press issued a memo to all its reporters worldwide alerting them that when writing about the 2005 flooding of New Orleans, they must add that levee failure played a major role. 

Now at the 20th anniversary of the levee breaches during Katrina, The Advocate has still not issued such a memo. It's time they do! 

By adding your name to this petition, a letter will be sent to Senior Editor Rene Sanchez requesting that The Advocate issue a memo to its reporters stating that whenever writing about the flooding of New Orleans, they must add that levee failure played a major role.