Open Letter to Brian Williams

Dear Brian,

Last night I found extremely annoying your reference to China's severe winter weather and how her government has been responding to it as "China's Hurricane Katrina."

This would not have bothered me, and I wouldn't be writing, had you and "Nightly" regularly and in detail been covering recovery efforts and other news out of Louisiana and Mississippi. But since last night's was the 27th newscast since you last aired anything out of New Orleans or elsewhere in the Gulf Region, this use of "Hurricane Katrina" is one of my pet peeves.

The terms "Hurricane Katrina" and "Katrina" need to be copyrighted. For their use to describe other disasters trivializes the storm and the manmade levee failures its surge brought about. It's especially insensitive to both survivors and their supporters aware of how you haven't been covering the remaining devastation from and lingering hardships and suffering 2 1/2 years after 8/29. Or such hopeful signs of recovery as this year's Mardi Gras.

Please permanently re-open your New Orleans bureau and bring back full, regular coverage of the aftermath of and recovery from the real Hurricane Katrina.