Existing comment:
This photo's caption said:
"Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana."
Finding or Looting?
Two photographs of people wading through Katrina's floodwaters carrying items from stores ignited a debate about race and media.
One image, shot by photographer Chris Graythen for AFP/Getty Images, showed a light-skinned couple described as "finding" groceries in a local store. The other, shot by the Associated Press's Dave Martin, showed a dark-skinned man described as a looter.
Associated Press officials later confirmed that its photographer said he witnessed the man looting the items from a store, while Getty said its photographer had discussed the image with his editor and decided not to label the couple as looters because he didn't witness how they got the goods.
Danger and Despair:
"You aren't safe"
Times-Picayune photographers and reporters encountered mobs looting stores and thousands of people stranded in squalor at the Superdome and Convention Center shelter sites. Flooding left the city under more than 10 feet of water in some areas, a mix of sewage, disease and death. There was chaos and lawlessness on the streets. Police told the reporters to arm themselves, and a SWAT team gave them weapons for protection.
In a city on edge, every encounter brought fresh potential for danger. Times-Picayune city editor David Meeks had a rifle put to his head by police, who thought he had carjacked the newspaper truck he was driving. When reporter Gordon Russell stumbled upon a crime scene, agitated policemen shoved guns in his face and tried to take his notebook. Shaken, Russell later told a colleague to get out of New Orleans. "You aren't safe," he said.
Looting Breaks Out:
Covering looting at an uptown Walmart, journalists heard someone yell, "The Times-Picayune's over there taking pictures. Let's take care of business." City editor David Meeks ordered everyone to retreat. Photographer Ted Jackson saw "mobs on the corners and threatening groups of people in the streets, and you had to make decisions not to slow down because someone would jump out in front of you and take the car from you."
Biloxi imposed a curfew after looting broke out, and people defended their property with guns. "Reporters watched as roving bands of mostly young men ransacked stores for whiskey, beer and cigarettes, furniture, TVs and the like in open view," said Sun Herald executive editor Stan Tiner. |