Main Page | Recent changes | View source | Page history

Printable version | Disclaimers | Privacy policy

Not logged in
Log in | Help
 

Position:Katrina media coverage was racist class warfare

From dKosopedia

Position: Media coverage of Hurricane Katrina was inaccurate, sensationalist, racist class warfare; at very least subconciously and implicitly, at most conciously and explicitly.

Despite a total lack of evidence, blacks and poor people were portrayed as bloodthirsty, irrational, rapacious animals so bent on violence that they would literally shoot people who came to save them.

As the confusion settles and the true story of what happened finally emerges, the major media outlets have not given the truth comparable coverage, they have not made public corrections of their miscoverage, they have not apologised, nor made any retractions.

The damage this has done to inner-cities, blacks, and the poor will be felt for a long time to come.

Contents

Evidence

Media Reports of Violence were Rumors and Misinformation

"The vast majority of reported atrocities committed by evacuees — mass murders, rapes and beatings — have turned out to be false, or at least unsupported by any evidence, according to key military, law-enforcement, medical and civilian officials in positions to know."

"I think 99 percent of it is [expletive]," said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Lachney, who played a key role in security and humanitarian work inside the Dome..."

The scholars' suspicions are fueled by what they say is a well-documented history of misinformation during disasters...

"As a researcher, I base what I say on evidence and there was no evidence for a lot of what was being reported," says Kathleen Tierney, a sociologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder and director of the Natural Hazards Center there. "I don't think I've ever seen such an egregious example of victim blaming as I have in this disaster."

"We don't have any substantiated rapes," the New Orleans Police superintendent Edwin Compass ...The Federal Aviation Administration and military officials have cast doubt on the story of the rescue helicopter that came under fire...

"By Thursday, local TV and radio stations in Baton Rouge...were breezily passing along reports of cars being hijacked at gunpoint by New Orleans refugees, riots breaking out in the shelters set up in Baton Rouge to house the displaced, and guns and knives being seized..."

"The police, for example, confiscated a single knife from a refugee in one Baton Rouge shelter...There were no riots in Baton Rouge. There were no armed hordes."

First Hand Testimony Contradicts the Rumors

Profiting from misinformation

The media profited from its coverage, so it stands to reason that it should pay back that money to the communities it has hurt.

See Also

Retrieved from "http://localhost../../../k/a/t/Position%7EKatrina_media_coverage_was_racist_class_warfare_ca5e.html"

This page was last modified 11:17, 2 December 2013 by dKosopedia user PatriotismOverProfits. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.


[Main Page]
Daily Kos
DailyKos FAQ

View source
Discuss this page
Page history
What links here
Related changes

Special pages
Bug reports