News coverage of the Columbia shuttle disaster offered journalists an opportunity to explore not only outer space, but also the constellation of qualities that made its astronauts unique.
Who were these people? Where did they come from? What did they represent? What made them tick? What made them stand out? What did they believe?
News outlets sought to satisfy the public’s desire to know something about the makeup of the Columbia crew. Some stories showed their similarities. Others highlighted what set them apart.
The attempt to understand these seven astronauts made diversity one of the many themes journalists addressed in the overall coverage. What they focused on when it came to this topic ranged from the obvious to the obscure. They highlighted certain things and downplayed others.
Laura Parker and Haya El Nasser of USA Today, for example, noted the gender distribution: “The Columbia’s seven astronauts were a typical modern crew: five men, two women, each possessed with an all-consuming desire to travel in space.”
Many pointed to the multicultural makeup of the crew, which included an African American, an American immigrant born and raised in India, and an Israeli. Race arose in some instances.
A number noted the factors of family and faith. And some showed the reality versus the stereotypes we have of astronauts.
The Los Angeles Times noted, for example, that “The space cowboy is gone,” explaining how the astronauts “were part of a new breed … technically skilled bookworms, scientists first and pilots second.”
What the reporters unearthed offer some insights into how elements of diversity manifested itself in the news coverage, in this case as it emerged in reading the websites of ABC, MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, San Jose Mercury News, USA Today, The Oregonian, the Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times.
Early coverage of the disaster generated leads that tried to sum up the Columbia crew. “Fallen Astronauts Spanned the Globe of Diversity,” (Feb. 2, 2003) announced an article in The Washington Post by staff writer Anne Hull.
Hull addressed the diversity theme head on in her lead and in early paragraphs: “More than any other NASA space mission, the crew of the Columbia represented the planet it soared above. The seven astronauts who perished yesterday came from America, India and Israel.” By the fifth paragraph, she noted that “The diversity of the crew — three white American men, a white American woman, a black American man, an Israeli national and an Indian immigrant — was what struck many Americans about yesterday’s tragedy.”
The Associated Press took the geographic description one step further in its lead: “They were from Texas, Wisconsin, Israel and India.”
News organizations also used their leads to draw upon other elements they felt captured the crew.
Chicago Tribune reporters Amy E. Nevala and Vincent J. Schodolski focused upon accomplishments. “The astronauts of Columbia were astounding achievers, brimming with master’s degrees and military commendations. But beneath the gold-plated resumes, they also were old-fashioned adventurers who ignored huge obstacles and leapt at the chance to fly into space.”
The Oregonian‘s Jerry Schwartz led with the differences in gender, racial and ethnic makeup but also added their experience: “Three veterans of spaceflight, four rookies.”
When news organizations began profiling the astronauts, a more nuanced, complex picture emerged. A number of news reports explained the cultural and gender challenges faced by Indian-born Kalpana Chawla.
San Jose Mercury News reporter Jessie Mangaliman wrote that Chawla understood what she was up against and what she was determined to do:
Chawla — the youngest of four children, and the third girl — sensed that boys were more valued and had more opportunities than girls, and from early on was shaped by it, her brother, Sanjay, said Sunday. “She was determined, ‘I’m going to tell these guys I’m not just another girl,’ ” he said. “She was going to be better than the boys.”
Religion emerged as a factor in the reporting on shuttle commander Rick Husband. Washington Post writer Manny Fernandez noted the following:
Being an astronaut stirred Husband’s emotions as a husband, father of two children and a Christian. “I am a strong believer and a Christian,” Husband told the Fresno Bee in November … In the Houston suburb of Clear Lake City, a short drive from the NASA space center, Husband was well known among the 4,000 members of the interdenominational Grace Community Church. He kept up his many church duties while training, singing in the choir on Sundays and helping to lead a weekly prayer group for fathers called Dads in the Gap, said Garrett Booth, 28, the church’s executive pastor.
Most news reports addressed Israeli Ilan Ramon’s relationship to his religion as well. For example, the profile provided on MSNBC.com said: “Although he was a self-described secular Jew, Ramon honored his heritage and religion aboard the flight. He asked NASA to provide him with kosher food, tried to observe the Sabbath on board and carried both a pocket-size version of the Bible presented to him by Israeli President Moshe Katzav and a Torah scroll given to him by a concentration-camp survivor.”
Race became an issue a number of news organization dealt with. Some simply noted that payload commander Lt. Col. Michael Anderson was an African American. Some went further. New York Times reporter Charlie LeDuff interviewed people in Anderson’s hometown of Spokane, Washington.
“It’s too bad, maybe, that we don’t pay enough attention to our heroes until their death,” said Phil Robinson, a butcher who works near the Anderson home. “I didn’t know until this disaster that he came from here. Add in the fact that he’s a black man from a very white town, and I would say we have done him wrong in some ways.” Whatever the reasons, the city seemed conflicted in its grief today, raising some doubt about whether it was really grieving at all. Some flags stood at half-staff, others did not. There were no mass testimonials, few flowers.
The issue of race also made an appearance on National Public Radio’s Tavis Smiley show. Smiley interviewed pilot William McCool and Anderson on Jan. 30, a few days before the shuttle disaster. Portions of the interview were quoted on NPR’s news programs afterwards.
Anderson informed Smiley’s listeners that he was doing experiments involving African dust and global warming, and medical experiments addressing issues important to the African-American community, including experiments with prostrate cancer cells that have a high rate of occurrence in African-American males. After the tragedy, Smiley also interviewed Cornel West, who has written about issues of religion and race, asking how the crew symbolized racial relationships.
And finally, there were offbeat and interesting elements that appeared in news reports as well.
CNN, as well as other news organizations, noted that mission specialist David Brown was “A college gymnast and one-time circus performer,” adding that “his experiences as an acrobat, tumbler, stilt walker and 7-foot unicycle rider helped him to be a better astronaut.”
And on ABCnews.com, they noted that payload specialist Laurel Clark, “An astronaut, a submarine medical officer and a flight surgeon” saw her most important job as a mom to her eight-year-old son.
