Poor, black, and suffering Americans. These are the images that flashed across TV screens in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Reporters asked why there was no help for people who couldn't afford to evacuate. And columnists wrote of a shocked and outraged America, an America which had finally discovered its own poverty and racism. For a brief moment, the corporate media drew back the curtains and revealed a reality we hardly ever see. Now, we have a choice. We can make cosmetic changes. Or, we can reach beyond the issues that have divided us, and challenge the structural causes of this catastrophe. One of those structural causes is the corporate media which have systematically failed to inform us about poverty and racism here at home.

Robert McChesney is president and co-founder of the Free Press, an organization working to increase public participation in media policy debates, and to generate policies that will produce a more democratic media. He is also professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of numerous books including Rich Media, Poor Democracy and The Problem of the Media.