Hurricane Katrina - "Two Photo Controversy"

An excellent example of media stereotyping that we saw early on in our course was the coverage of Hurricane Katrina. The pictures show a white couple carrying food that they "found" and a black man carrying food that he "looted". The photographers claim that the photos were captioned that way because they did not see where the white couple got the food and assumed they found it floating in the water and they saw the black man coming out of a store with his food. Judge for yourself:
(http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teachable_moments/katrina_2_photo.cfm)









In this same link, you will see the following photos:


 

			Looters hit a drug store in the French Quarter dustrict of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisuana, following Hurricane Katrina. Fresh floods, fires and looting rode in the destructive wake of Hurricane Katrina, deepening a humanitarian crises that left hundreds feared dead and sections of New Orleans submerged to the rooftops. (AFP/James Nielson)		As one person looks through their shopping bag, left, another jumps through a broken window, while leaving a convenience store on the I-10 service road south, in Metairie, La., Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This photo was taken during a helicopter tour of the area that included the governor of Louisiana. (AP Photo/Bill Feig, Pool)

It seems that they same stereotypical view has been applied to these photos. The black people are looting and the white people have a "shopping bag".