The Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias wrote on Monday about how cable and online media provided better hurricane Katrina coverage than the major American networks.

One thing she didn't mention -- and something I learned the hard way during the T.O. blackout of Aug. 14, 2003 -- is the value of having a cheap, battery-operated transistor radio kicking around your house.

The way I learned that particular event might have been more than a local blackout (I was at home and my power died; then I went out to College Street and saw the traffic lights were out) was the fact my cellphone didn't work.

But I had an old-but-serviceable transistor radio and it kept me up to date.

Zerby wrote about the digital divide, and how the poor of New Orleans are on the other side of it. But virtually anyone can afford a transistor radio.