Media coverage of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina |
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2005 Atlantic hurricane season |
General |
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Impact |
Relief |
Analysis |
External links |
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Many representatives of the news media reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina became directly involved in the unfolding events, instead of simply reporting. Due to the loss of most means of communication, such as land-based and cellular telephone systems, field reporters in many cases became conduits for information between victims and authorities.
Media involvement
Several reporters for various
Many journalists also contributed to the spread of false rumors of lawlessness among the victims, which many have been interpreted as an instance of yellow journalism. Many news organizations carried the unsubstantiated accounts that murder and rape were widespread, and in some cases later repeated the claims as fact, without attribution. However, only one actual report of a raping occurred during the uproar.[2] A few of the reports of rape and violence were based on statements made by New Orleans city officials, including the Chief of Police. Many officials later claimed these rumors often impeded the relief and rescue efforts.[3]
For some, the hurricane was a career-defining event. For example, Vanity Fair qualified Brian Williams' (of NBC) work regarding Katrina as “Murrow-worthy” and reported that during the hurricane he became “a nation’s anchor.” The New York Times characterised William's reporting of the hurricane as “a defining moment.”[20] Later, questions were raised about this reporting by the Times-Picayune of New Orleans.[4]
Some issues of racial bias in media coverage began to surface as Caucasian flood victims were portrayed in one Agence France-Presse photo as "finding" supplies, while a black person was described in an Associated Press photo as "looting" supplies. The photographers later clarified the two stories, one claiming he witnessed the black person looting a flooded store, while the other photographer described the white people as finding the food floating in floodwaters.[5] The image was widely reused on the internet in various modified forms, and was known as "Lootie". This was also criticized as an example of pervasive racism.[6]
Media reporting also included coverage of political and religious leaders who suggested that the hurricane which killed 1,836 people was sent as a divine retribution for the sins of New Orleans, or of the South, or for the United States as a whole.[7][8][9]
The news media, both traditional and Internet, also played a role in helping families locate missing loved ones. Many family members, unable to contact local authorities in the affected areas, discovered the fate of a loved one via an online photo or television video clip. In one instance, a family in Clearwater, Florida discovered their mother was still alive in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi after seeing a photo of her on TampaBayStart.com, a regional news site.
The storm also brought a dramatic rise in the role of
In September 2022, the Associated Press issued a style guide change to Katrina stating that reporters when writing about the storm in New Orleans should note that “…levee failures played a major role in the devastation in New Orleans. In some stories, that can be as simple as including a phrase about Hurricane Katrina’s catastrophic levee failures and flooding….”[14]
Restrictions on the media
As the U.S. military and rescue services regained control over the city, there were restrictions on the activity of the media.
On September 9, Lt. Gen.
On September 7,
Toronto Star staff photojournalist Lucas Oleniuk was thrown to the ground by police in the French Quarter after taking several photographs, including pictures of a firefight between looters and police and the subsequent alleged beating of a looter by the police. The police attempted to take all of his equipment, however he convinced them to just take his camera's memory cards. In a separate incident, freelance photojournalist Marko Georgiev took photos of a body presumably shot and killed by the police. Police then pointed their weapons at the car and ordered the journalists out. They proceeded to search the car and confiscated one of Georgiev's memory cards.[18]
References
- ^ "Geraldo Rivera & Shepard Smith Unleashed Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine." – Video. 2005.
- Times Picayune. September 26, 2005.
- Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved 2006-04-10.
- ^ "NBC anchor Brian Williams' Katrina account challenged by ex-French Quarter hotel manager | News | nola.com". 9 February 2015.
- ^ Mikkelson, Barbara; Mikkelson, David. P. "Loot Loops." Snopes. September 1, 2005.
- ^ Vernellia R. Randall (April 29, 2006) [1997]. "The Racisim of "Lootie"". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
it's hard for the Majority group to see racism or subordination because everything seems okay to them
- ISBN 0-465-01761-4.
- ^ Douglas Brinkley, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast (2006), p. 618.
- ^ Some evacuees see religious message in Katrina, MSNBC.
- ^ The Pulitzer Board (2006). "2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners – Breaking News Reporting". Archived from the original on 2006-07-04. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
- ^ The Pulitzer Board (2006). "2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners – Public Service". Archived from the original on 2006-07-08. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
- ^ Mark Glaser (September 13, 2005). "NOLA.com blogs and forums help save lives after Katrina". Online Journalism Review. Archived from the original on July 20, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
- ^ Paul Steiger (May 22, 2006). "Remarks at Pulitzer Prize luncheon". The Pulitzer Board. Archived from the original on July 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-02.
- ^ "Hurricane Tropical Guide,The Associated Press". APStylebook.com. September 27, 2022.
- ^ a b Staff Writer. "U.S. won't ban media from New Orleans searches." CNN. September 11, 2005.
- ^ Kurtz, Howard. "Restrictions irk media members covering storm." The Seattle Times. September 9, 2005.
- KATU. September 16, 2005.
- ^ Winslow, Donald R. (2005-09-01). "Photojournalists Covering Katrina Fall Victim To Growing Violence, Chaos". National Press Photographers Association. Retrieved 2006-03-13.
External links
- transcript of CNN v. Michael Brown suit filed against Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown challenging policy to keep journalists from areas where recovery of the dead was going on.
- Archive of newspaper front page images from 8/30/2005, 8/31/2005, 9/1/2005, 9/2/2005, 9/3/2005, and 9/4/2005 from the Newseum.