Grad Global History – James – Bias in the News
Name: _________________________
Resource: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teachable_moments/katrina_2_photo.cfm
Hurricane Katrina and
the "Two-Photo Controversy"
Instructions:
1. Read the following: Hurricane Katrina and the “Two-Photo Controversy”.
2. Answer the questions at the end of the article.
Grad Global History – James – Bias in the News
Name: _________________________
After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, two photographs published by Yahoo! News
depicting residents making their way through chest-deep water caused an uproar relating to bias in media
coverage. The first image, shot by photographer Dave Martin for the Associated Press, showed a young
black man, who, according to the accompanying caption, “walks through chest deep flood water after
looting a grocery store.” In a similar shot, taken by photographer Chris Graythen for AFP/Getty Images, a
white couple was shown wading "through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local
grocery store.”
It is Yahoo!’s policy to use photo captions that are provided by the photographers and not edit them
before posting the images online.1 These captions caused many to question whether black people were
being treated fairly in media coverage of post-hurricane events.
In response to the ensuing controversy, the journalists associated with the photos claimed that it was not
an issue of race, but rather a question of semantics over the terms ‘looting’ as opposed to ‘finding’.
According to Jack Stokes, the director of media relations for AP, Dave Martin, the photographer of the
first picture, personally witnessed the subject of his photograph entering a grocery store and leaving with
items, thus witnessing the man looting.2 Whereas the photographer of the second photo, Chris Graythen,
didn’t witness the subjects of his photograph taking the goods. “I wrote the caption about the two people
who 'found' the items. I believed in my opinion, that they did simply find them, and not 'looted' them in
the definition of the word. The people were swimming in chest deep water, and there were other people in
the water, both white and black. I looked for the best picture. There were a million items floating in the
water — we were right near a grocery store that had 5+ feet of water in it. It had no doors. The water was
moving, and the stuff was floating away. These people were not ducking into a store and busting down
windows to get electronics. They picked up bread and cokes that were floating in the water. They would
have floated away anyhow.”3
Questions:
1. What type of bias is represented in this news article?
2. Compare the words “looting” and “finding”. What images come to mind when we hear or
use these words?
3. What is the job or role of a news journalist? How might a traumatic event make their job
difficult?
Grad Global History – James – Bias in the News
Name: _________________________
4. What are some reasons that journalists or news websites might publish incorrect stories?
5. Can you think of any other examples (they can be local to Halifax) in which bias has
occurred in media coverage?
6. Compare the following two post-hurricane photos. In light of the two photos previously
discussed what comments would you make about these pictures and their accompanying
captions.
Looters hit a drug store in the French
Quarter district of New Orleans in
New Orleans, Louisiana, following
Hurricane Katrina. Fresh floods, fires
and looting rode in the destructive
wake of Hurricane Katrina, deepening
a humanitarian crisis 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)