Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

Analysis:

Besides only being 28 seconds long, this story basically just mentions that Mohammed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) won the Nobel Prize for their “work to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.” The only other “information” provided in the story was that U2 band member Bono didn’t win for his work on poverty relief.

There are 2 major omissions from the channel 13 coverage. First, there are no international perspectives provided, even though the award itself is international. Agence France Presse reported that several environmental groups were not happy with the award going to the IAEA. Greenpeace international claims that the agency promotes nuclear power, which in many cases leads to the development of nuclear weaponry. Also reported in the French Press was that a Japanese nuclear bomb survivor nominated for the peace prize, “accused the Nobel jury of passing over his group so as not to offend the United States.” The other major omission was that the IAEA was one of the international bodies that told the US government that Iraq had no credible WMD program prior to its invasion of Iraq. It seems reasonable to think that this would be mentioned in the course of reporting on the Nobel Prize, since the impact of US policy towards Iraq have ongoing and international implications.

Story:

WZZM News reader – The United Nations weapons inspector says winning the Nobel Peace Prize is a humbling experience. The Nobel Committee named Mohammed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency for that prize. They work to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. ElBaradei says the Prize’s recognition of their efforts and their continuing responsibility. Now rocker Bono, of the band U2 lost out on the award. He was nominated for his work to decrease poverty in Third World countries.

Total Time: 28 seconds

Analysis:

This particular article is from the Associated Press and in it, the reporter attempts to define Miers position on a variety of issues. The four issues addressed are guns, criminal justice, abortion, and gay rights. Due partly to the fact that Miers has never been a judge and therefore has no paper trail of legal decisions, much of the information presented in the article is speculative or circumstantial. For example, on the issue of gun rights, the only information the article provides is that Miers had at one time been given a revolver from her brother and that she was an awful shot.

One source of information the article does not look at in trying to determine her judicial philosophy is her record as head of Locke, Liddell & Sapp, a large corporate law firm. In fact, since she has never actually been a judge, her heading of this law firm has been advanced as one of her main qualifications. And yet, the fact that she worked in corporate law was only briefly mentioned in the original AP version of the article. The GR Press version of the article edited that part of the article out entirely. Regardless, no analysis is provided in either version of the article how Miers record at this firm might give clues as to where she stands on issues pertaining to corporate law and corporate rights as compared to individual or environmental rights.

Another source of background information ignored in this article is Miers record as head of the Texas Lottery commission. According to a article by journalist Joshua Frank, Miers, as head of the Lottery commission, made the controversial choice to maintain the services of Gtech, a firm that had been implicated in a bribery scandal, despite the fact that two other firms had submitted lower bids to provide the same services. This prompted the former Lottery head, Lawrence Littwin, to file a lawsuit, charging corruption in the rewarding of the contract, a suit which was later settled with Gtech paying a penalty of 300,000 dollars. This information about Miers’ tenure as head of the Texas lottery was not included in this particular article, nor in any other article that has appeared in the GR Press on Miers.

Story:

Clues in Miers’ record point to a moderate with anti-abortion tilt

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ footprints on contentious social issues suggest a moderate position on gay rights, an interest in advancing women and minorities and sympathy for anti-abortion efforts. Judging from the Smith & Wesson she once packed, she favors gun rights, too.

Miers’ years as a corporate lawyer and White House insider have produced a record so scant that court-watchers are picking through 16-year-old Dallas city council votes and the like to divine how she might come down on constitutional matters.

She is not a completely blank slate.

A decade before the 2001 terrorist attacks, Miers defended constitutional freedoms in a time of danger, with words that would hearten two groups of activists in the post-9/11 world of added police powers – civil libertarians and the gun lobby.

“The same liberties that ensure a free society make the innocent vulnerable to those who prevent rights and privileges and commit senseless and cruel acts,” she wrote in Texas Lawyer, when she was president of the state bar. “Those precious liberties include free speech, freedom to assemble … access to public places, the right to bear arms and freedom from constant surveillance.

“We are not willing to sacrifice these rights because of the acts of maniacs.”
Miers once owned a .45-caliber revolver, a gift from a brother who was worried about her safety when she lived alone in Dallas, says Judge Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court, who has known Miers for 30 years and has dated her.
“It’s a huge gun – he wanted to be sure she stopped the guy,” Hecht said in a telephone interview. The judge recalled one Sunday afternoon driving out to the country, setting up tin cans on a dirt road and trying to teach Miers how to shoot.

How was her aim?

“She was terrible,” said Hecht, who added that she kept the gun for a long time but said he was unsure if she ever fired it again.

In her writings, Miers has pitched a brand of criminal justice that borrowed from the right and the left. On one hand, she insisted, “Punishment of wrongdoers should be swift and sure,” and she appeared to have little patience for those who would excuse an act of violence by blaming society.

On the other hand, she pressed for more money to improve legal representation for indigent defendants and said root causes of crime – poverty, lack of mental and other health care, inadequate education and family dysfunction – must be addressed.

On the issue that commands the most attention for court nominees, Miers pressed unsuccessfully to have the American Bar Association put its policy in favor of abortion rights to a vote of the membership, showing a sensitivity, at least, to the anti-abortion movement, if not outright support of it.

Hecht said she has attended an evangelical church in Dallas, the Valley View Christian Church, for 25 years and “their position is pro-life and I’m sure her views are compatible with theirs.”

Miers bought a $150 ticket to a Texas anti-abortion group’s fundraising dinner in 1989, the year she won a term on the Dallas city council, the group’s president said. Kyleen Wright of the Texans for Life Coalition, then called Texans United for Life, said the dinner drew about 30 other officeholders or candidates as “bronze patrons,” the lowest level of financial support.

“One would have to assume she is at least moderately pro-life, but how far that commitment goes, I really don’t know,” Wright said. “No one I know in the pro-life or pro-family movement knows her, locally or around the state.”
In 1992, Miers said presidents have no business asking court nominees to toe their line on abortion.

“Nominees are clearly prohibited from making such a commitment and presidents are prohibited from asking for it,” she said. People who think such inquiries are proper show “a misunderstanding of the separation of powers by proposing that judicial nominees should mirror a president’s views.”

In her current job as White House counsel, however, it is certain Bush already knows her opinion on a variety of issues.

In one of the few head-on expositions of her views on public policy, a short gay-rights survey she filled out during her city council campaign in 1989, Miers backed equal civil rights for homosexuals and spending on AIDS education while defending a Texas law – since overturned by the Supreme Court – that made gay sex a crime.

Despite that paradox, a leading gay-rights group credited her Tuesday with an open mind.

“It’s only a small window into her thinking,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, “but it certainly, for me, raises the possibility that she’s more fair-minded than our opponents are hoping.”

The question on civil rights on the old survey did not pin respondents down on any of the issues typically associated with gay equality today, such as domestic partner benefits or same-sex unions. Kelly Shackelford, president of the socially conservative Free Market Foundation, played down the significance of Miers’ answer, saying he, too, could have answered yes to it.

Shackelford credited her with “basic Texas down home values.”

Solmonese said the fact Miers even came to a meeting of a Dallas gay and lesbian group to answer its questions suggested a wish to reach out.

“She’s pro-family but not condemnatory,” Hecht said.

Miers asserted during her city council campaign that “employers should be able to pick the best qualified person for any position, to be filled considering all relevant factors,” a position that does not seem in support of mandatory affirmative action.

Text from the original article ommitted from the Grand Rapids Press version:

In her own legal career, she broke a glass ceiling and led the way for others.

In 1972, Miers was the first woman hired by the Dallas law firm of Locke Purnell Rain Harrell, when Texas was far from friendly terrain for women attorneys.

Linda Eads, a law professor at Southern Methodist University who was deputy attorney general in Texas, recalls inappropriate questions during job interviews as well as male attorneys who couldn’t imagine a high-powered woman at their firm.

The questions ranged “from what I was doing about birth control to how could you possibly think union leaders would want to talk to a girl,” Eads said.

At Locke Purnell, Miers worked to ensure that more women joined the firm.

Tom Connop, a partner at the firm – now known as Locke Liddell & Sapp – said Miers was an advocate of employing not only women but minorities, reflected in the more than a dozen female associates in 1984.
In 1996, Miers became the firm’s first female president.

“Every woman lawyer in Dallas, Texas, owes a debt to Harriet Miers,” said Robin P. Hartmann, a partner with the Dallas law firm of Haynes and Boone who argued cases with and against Miers.

Analysis:

This article is about a new breed of soybean bean developed by Monsanto, the largest supplier of agricultural supplies in the world. The local angle of this story is that Zeeland Farm Industries, a local company, has been contracted by Monsanto to process this new soybean breed. One important piece of information mentioned in the article is that this new bread of soy bean was developed from a genetically modified soy bean. The article notes this fact and then states that “While environmental groups question the safety of genetically engineered crops, Cook (Monsanto representative) said most soybeans in the United States are genetically engineered and Vistive is approved by federal regulators.” These claims by environmental groups are not elaborated in the article, nor is the rebuttal from Monsanto verified with any independent voices or information. This lack of context on genetically modified foods is unfortunate but not atypical. The issue of potential negative impacts on the environment on health and the environment has not been a story the commercial press has readily addressed. According to the media watchdog group Project Censored, this issue was on the top ten underreported news stories for 2001. Other Project Censored reports show that since 2001, this issue has continued to be either mis-reported or under-reported.

Story:

ZFS, Monsanto team up to grow healthier soybeans
Tuesday, September 27, 2005By Ron Cammel
The Grand Rapids Press
ZEELAND — A new food labeling law is leading to new business for Zeeland Farm Services Inc.

The farm supplier and food processor contracted with agricultural giant Monsanto Co. to process a newly developed soybean that does not require hydrogenation.

Hydrogenation is a process which increases shelf life and flavor stability in fried foods, baked goods, snack products and other processed foods. The process also creates trans fatty acid, which is blamed for coronary heart disease.

Starting Jan. 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will require nutrition labels to specify content of trans fatty acid, also called trans fat.

Food manufacturers want to prevent trans fat from turning away consumers and have looked for alternatives to hydrogenation, said Chris Cook of Monsanto.

Over the past 10 years, Monsanto developed a soybean, Vistive, with low linolenic acid, reducing the need for hydrogenation, he said.

The 150-employee Zeeland Farm Services will contract with several growers in Michigan to grow the beans in 2006 and return the crop to Zeeland Farm Services for processing into oil and feed.

Zeeland Farm Services already supplies food makers with a low-linolenic soybean oil from a bean developed by Ohio State University, company spokesperson Norma Knoll said.

Monsanto’s bean, however, also includes the genetically engineered Roundup Ready trait, which reduces weeds in fields.
While environmental groups question the safety of genetically engineered crops, Cook said most soybeans in the United States are genetically engineered and Vistive is approved by federal regulators.

The Ohio State bean is helping ZFS satisfy manufacturers’ demand for nonhydrogenated products before the Jan. 1 deadline, but Visitive should be a more cost-effective solution, Knoll said.

Monsanto spent “millions of dollars” to develop the low-linolenic trait in Vistive through conventional breeding, starting with genetically engineered crops, Cook said.

ZFS, which could have the soybean growing on 25,000 acres next year, is the only Michigan company to contract for the product. Monsanto expects 500,000 acres of Vistive to be grown in 2006 nationally, after a limited trial this year.

Analysis:

Both these stories about the sentencing of a US soldier for her role in the torture of Iraqi prisoners were short running only 24 on WOOD TV 8 and 26 seconds on WXMI Fox 17. In both cases they mention that Private England claimed that she was only doing what her soldier boyfriend asked her to do. Both stories mentioned that she received a 3 year sentence, but only Fox 17 ran some of the photos from the Abu Ghraib prison where the abuses took place, one of which is included here.

Several things are missing in the coverage of this crime case. First, while Fox 17 did show two of the now known photos from Abu Ghraib, the coverage didn’t provide any specifics about the torture. Second, both news stories cite Private England’s response in the courtroom, but neither of them provide commentary from the court on why she was found guilty of 6 of the 7 charges. Third, 3 days before the sentencing Human Rights Watch published a new report on the widespread Iraqi prisoner abuse at a US military base near Fallujah in 2003 & 2004. The report says “U.S. Army troops subjected Iraqi detainees to severe beatings and other torture at a base in central Iraq from 2003 through 2004, often under orders or with the approval of superior officers.” This information is quite relevant in that it provides a larger context to the issue of US military use of torture in Iraq and how widespread it is. Lastly, there was no coverage in the local news of a US judge’s decision to have the government release all “87 photographs and four videotapes as part of an October 2003 lawsuit demanding information on the treatment of detainees in US custody and the transfer of prisoners to countries known to use torture,” according to an AP story on September 29. Readers could ask themselves to what degree is the media obligated to report on human rights abuses committed by its own government?

Story:

WOOD TV 8 News reader – Well she said she was only trying to please her soldier boyfriend when she took part in prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. Well now Lynndie England will serve three years for her crimes. England’s sentencing wrapped up the last of nine court martials of lower level soldiers charged in that abuse scandal. England, the most recognizable reservist charged after graphic abuse photos became public. Lynndie was convicted yesterday on 6 of the 7 counts against her.

Total Time: 26 seconds

WXMI 17 News reader – A US soldier is sentenced tonight for abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. A military just decided Army Private First Class, Lynndie England will spend three years behind bars for her role. England said she posed in the notorious abuse photos at the urging of her soldier boy friend, whom she trusted. England’s sentencing wraps up the last of nine court martials of low level soldiers charged in the abuse scandal.

Total Time: 24 seconds

Analysis:

To see how news stories are generated read the Media Release from the National Retail Federation to see how much effort channel 8 put into this story.

Story:

WOOD TV 8 News reader – Believe it or not, Christmas is just 3 months away and this year retailers expect sales to slightly grow. The National Retail Federation predicts a 5% increase in total sales compared to last year. If that turns out to be true, that would put spending for the shopping season at $435 billion. Several factors will affect sales this Christmas, including the hurricanes, energy prices, and consumer confidence.

Total Time: 24 seconds

Analysis:

The WXMI 17 story does a great job of not only representing the press conference, but of the issue of domestic violence as a whole. The story provided some statistical information on how serious the problem is, with data provided by the FBI and local law enforcement in Kent County. Then viewers heard from law enforcement, the company providing the safety devise, and someone from Safe Haven Ministries which provides programs and shelter for domestic violence victims. The channel 17 story was only 1:45, but was able to provide good information and a great deal of context to viewers as well as naming local agencies for more information.

Story:

WXMI 17 News reader – There is new help for victims of domestic abuse in Kent County. A silent alarm to police if a person is being attacked at home.

Reporter – The FBI estimates that a woman is battered every 15 seconds in this country. And Grand Rapids….

Police – …so far this year from January to June, the police have responded to over 1,300 calls of domestic assault and just over 180 of those involved weapons.

Reporter – Of those who work with abused women say the violence goes unseen because it’s done mostly behind closed doors.

Safe Haven Ministries – Almost all cases of domestic abuse happen in the home that the partners share.

Reporter – That’s why Jennifer Marcum with Safe Haven Ministries feels the abused women’s response emergency system, or AWARE can be the difference between life and death. It works in the home.

Safe Haven Ministries – The best place that we can protect women who are being abused is in their own homes.

Reporter – ADT Security Services provides the alerts free.

ADT Company representative – This pendant is connected to a full security system. When the button is pushed and someone feels that they are in immanent danger, it sends a silent alarm to ADT’s monitoring center.

Reporter – Then they call police. Marcum says AWARE makes domestic violence a priority for law agencies.

Safe Haven Ministries – The women who qualify for this program, they will be ear-marked through that system for the police to immediately respond.

Reporter – ADT staff say this program has saved over 30 women’s lives nationwide.

WXMI 17 News reader – The AWARE program is credited with saving a woman’s life in Calhoun County. You can learn more about it through the YWCA, Safe Haven Ministries or at WXMI.com.

Total time: 1 minute and 45 seconds

Analysis:

A simple question to ask about this story is what did you learn about where the Senate hearings on Judge Robert’s Supreme Court nomination are and what did you learn from the exerpted comments from Senator Schumer?

Story:

WZZM 13 News reader – The questioning is over. Today the Senate Judiciary Confirmation Hearing ended for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Democrats say Roberts never answered specific questions about privacy and civil rights, but even they could not deny his legal intellect.
Senator Schumer (D) – You may very well possess the most powerful intellect of any person to come before the Senate for this position.
WZZM 13 News reader – The committee votes a week from today, then the full Senate will consider his nomination. Roberts is expected to be easily confirmed.
Total Time: 30 seconds

Analysis:

This is an amazing story for the Grand Rapids Press to put on the front page. Not only does it promote a popular program on CBS (owned by the media conglomerate Viacom), it focuses on a former NFL football player who happens to live in Grand Haven. Readers should ask themselves if a promotional piece for a network TV show merits front page coverage on the only daily paper in Grand Rapids?

When they do talk about Guatemala in the story the comments used are “Survivor,” which this time is set in Guatemala, promises the return of two former players and some harsh living conditions. It also plans to incorporate the country’s culture.” How does having contestants play at Mayan ruins incorporate the country’s culture? And when they say “harsh living conditions” what do they mean? Guatemala has a tremendous amount of poverty and human rights abuses, yet those issues are not mentioned in this article. When the US government recently ratifies the Central America Free Trade Agreement, this did not receive front page coverage in the Press. Something to consider with the argument that this article featured a local angle, by featuring a Grand Haven resident, why didn’t the GR Press feature in any of it’s coverage the local angle on the Central America Free Trade Agreement, since 23 local groups worked against this trade policy?

Story:

From gridiron to Guatemala: former football star tackles ‘Survivor’
By Lorilee Craker

West Michigan knows him as Gary Hogeboom, the former NFL quarterback and Central Michigan University star.
But to the 15 other contestants on tonight’s “Survivor: Guatemala,” the 47-year-old real estate developer from Grand Haven, Michigan, is . . . Gary Hawkins.

“This guy could still be a superb athlete, but if he shows it, he’s dead,” “Survivor” host Jeff Probst said in a recent conference call. “Right out of the gate, Gary was acting, taking on the last name Hawkins and downplaying his skills.

“There’s an 11-mile hike the first episode that was brutal. He’s as well-conditioned as anyone, but he doesn’t give it his all to throw people off. We’ve never had someone with such a big lie pull it off so well.”

More than 20 million fans are expected to tune in to tonight’s 11th installment of the Emmy-winning reality show, which has been one of TV’s most popular shows since it debuted in the summer of 2000.

The winner gets $1 million, and past competitions have created celebrities out of Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Ruppert Boneham, and Rob and Amber.

Is Gary Hogeboom, or rather, Hawkins, next?

On tonight’s opener, only one competitor, Danni Boatwright, a 30-year-old sports-radio talk show host from Kansas City, possibly recognizes Hogeboom, Probst said.

“It’s early on, day two or day three, when we have our first challenge, Danni said, ‘Hey, isn’t that Gary Hogeboom?’ We’ll see if she uses that knowledge to her advantage, by possibly striking a deal with him,” Probst said.

“Survivor,” which this time is set in Guatemala, promises the return of two former players and some harsh living conditions. It also plans to incorporate the country’s culture, as contestants will live among 2,000-year-old ruins and face some Mayan-inspired challenges, according to the fan Web site survivorfever.net.

But the buzz right now is all about Gary and Danni.

According to another fan Web site, Probst said in radio interview that Hogeboom told producers early on about his deception strategy.

“Gary said that even if people figure it out, he would say, ‘Yeah, I get that all the time,’ ” according to the forum posting.

On the same posting, “Survivor” fans were impressed with Danni’s sports knowledge.

“If Danni actually figures out who Gary is, I’d be totally amazed. No one has heard of the guy,” a fan said.
Hogeboom, who was in Guatemala from late June to early August to tape the show, is back in West Michigan and under a strict contract not to talk to anyone regarding “Survivor.”

But those who know the former Dallas Cowboy quarterback, consider him to be stiff competition for the largely 20-something crop of contestants, especially in terms of strength and endurance.

“I’ve never known him to be out of shape,” said Herb Deromedi, athletic director and former head football coach at Central Michigan University. He coached Hogeboom in the 1978 and 1979 seasons..

“In fact, whenever I’ve seen him over the years I’ve been tempted to ask him to suit up and help us out on the field.”

According to Probst, Hogeboom’s mettle will be tested on a different playing field.
“Palau (the location of last spring’s episodes) was a vacation compared to Guatemala,” he said. “It was at least 105 degrees every day, and one day it reached 120 degrees. The mosquitoes are ridiculous, and there’s a muddy river filled with crocodiles. It’s by far the most physical ‘Survivor’ yet.”

Probst was asked if Hogeboom was recruited to be on “Survivor” because of his former NFL status.

“We didn’t go looking for him,” Probst said. “His tape was him in Michigan and he’s out in the snow and his kids are piling snow on his head. He’s saying, ‘If I can survive two kids and the Michigan winter, I can survive your show.’ And when I saw his tape it just says Gary, it didn’t say Hogeboom.”

A lot of people think Hogeboom, who will join family and friends to watch tonight’s episode, has a shot at the top prize. One online betting site gave Hogeboom as 9-2 odds to win (Danni was a 6-1 favorite).

“Gary was in the NFL for 11 years,” said his dad, Bob Hogeboom of Plainfield Township. “He’ll come through all that kind of thing … just fine.”

And besides, Gary wants very much to win.

“Gary hates to lose,” said Deromedi, his former coach. “That is just not part of his makeup at all.”
And that success will depend on his acting ability.

“Hogeboom was out of the gate an actor,” Probst said. “And it was fun because . . . he didn’t hesitate. ‘What do you do?’ ‘Landscape architect.'”

Analysis:

This story frames the question of the local economic impact of Katrina in a rather distorted and incomplete manner, focusing on potential profits for local companies, while glossing over costs to the public. The reporter frames the story by talking to a local contractor who is anticipating increased business due to the hurricane, and an economics prefessor from Grand Vally State University. While the reporter does mention that some prices for goods will go up, he does not elaborate on this, nor do any of the people interviewed discuss this topic. The reporter does make one statement about higher costs, he asys “If the rebuilding continuew, experts say constructin materials and labor costs might go up”. Nowhere does he clarify who the “experts” he mentions are. It is also worth noting that the reporter frames increased labor costs and a negative thing. While increasing labor costs are a negative thing from the point of view of business, from the point of view of workers they mean higher wages. And yet in local reporting on economy, increasing wages are almost always reported as an increase in labor costs, e.i. an expense for business and therefore a negative economic factor.

Completely left out of this story is the issue of who will be paying the costs of any potential clean up in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. So while the story tells us that some local companies may get a few Hurricane related contracts, it does nothing to tell the viewer what the hurricaine will cost in terms of tax dollars spent or increased insurance rates. The reporter does mention that shipping will be disrupted by the hurricane but does not specify how this will affect consumers. Instead, a local economist is interviewed who states that “you think about the devastation, and it’s not good, but in some cases there is going to be a bit of a silver lining in it for some companies in the area.” This statement exemplifies the way that this story frames the issue of the local economic impact of Katrina, focusing on potential profits for some companies while brushing aside the issue of costs to the average taxpayer.

At the end of the report the newsreader states that “Now the governments already handed out a few controversial contracts to some politically well connected companies without looking for cheaper bids.” No other information about this point is given, not event the names of these “well connected companies.” Would it matter to viewers to know that these companies include Halliburton and Bechtel, companies that have already recieved millions of dollars in no bid government contracts in Iraq.

Story:

FOX 17 Newsreader – Well we’ve all felt the economic ripples from the hurricane, but economists say it will affect more that just gas prices. Material and labor costs are on the rise too. But as FOX 17’s Carl Apples shows us tonight, the rebuilding effort could eventually give the economy a boost.

Reporter – Seems like an impossible job but in some places the rebuilding has already started.

K&R Excavating rep – There’s just a mass of destruction that’s going to need to be reconstructed.

Reporter – Some businesses in West Michigan have their eye on it. Rob Devorst is with K&R Excavating. Several local construction & demolition companies like his are eager to play a roll in the clean up.

K&R Excavating rep – To see it there’s a need for us as a contractor so we could do some contract work so we’ve been kind of watching the news and the media to see what opportunities are available.

Reporter – It still may be months before any local companies get involved, if at all. Companies we talked to said it was still too early to start talking about a big economic impact of West Michigan. Steelcase for instance is concentrating on helping customers in affected areas, and their helping dealers get back on their feet. But experts say big contracts for national companies like Steelcase aren’t out of the question.

Dan Gledeman (economist) – They go to rebuild the businesses, these businesses are going to need products that our companies make, and so you know, you think about the devastation, and it’s not good, but in some cases there is going to be a bit of a silver lining in it for some companies in the area.

Reporter – that’s the good news but we all know what the hurricane’s done to gas prices. Also, if the rebuilding continues, experts say construction material and labor may go up. And shipping? Parts of the port of New Orleans will be up and running soon, but the damage will be felt all over.

Dan Gledeman – If affects us because we have imports of all sorts of things coming in through there, rubber comes in through there, cement comes in through there, coffee comes in through there.

Reporter – Devorst will take part if asked, but he says even if they aren’t paid to go to New Orleans, they may pitch in anyway.

K&R Excavating rep – We’re available, actually this is our downtime. We’ll be getting into that in November so if the opportunities are there we should be able to respond.

Reporter – from Kent County, Carl Apple, FOX 17 News and 10.

Newsreader – Now the governments already handed out a few controversial contracts to some politically well connected companies without looking for cheaper bids.