Blog #3: Media Coverage Of Hurricane Katrina

From Newseum.org. See here for bigger picture

The Anniston Star. Anniston, Alabama. Friday, September 2, 2005.

"Death in the streets: As anarchy erupts in New Orleans, plans begin to open McClellan for refugees"

"Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: Lootings, car-jackings and other violence"

Some language that really stood out to me in these headlines were the use of the words "anarchy", "refugees" and "looting". All of those words are very strong. Anarchy is associated with chaos due to lack of government help and that is interesting to me because the newspaper is putting out that the government is absent. As for lootings, there are other words that could be used in place of looting. The idea of looting vs searching for food is controversial. It is so hard to tell whether someone is actually looting and by using that word in a newspaper article, it makes the situation seem that much bigger. The use of the word refugees is also very controversial. Many people think that the people who left New Orleans are evacuees, but they are being called the very heavy word, refugees.

In my opinion, the article is biased, but I think that it's biased to show how bad the situation is. This article was written right around the time of the storm, near the storm, so they used words like 'anarchy' and 'refugees' because those are the loaded words that catch people's attention. They are able to show the severity of the storm with the words they chose to use for the headlines. If they would have chosen to use lighter words or just by saying that the storm was bad, it would not have made people realize the severity. I think this article could have something to do with race, but it is not super obvious. The main photo on the page is of a group of African American people and the caption under it calls them refugees and has looting in the article.

The purpose of this article is to show people who are not in the storm, just how bad it is. They want to show people the aftermath of the storm and how it is affecting the people. If someone had no prior knowledge of the hurricane or the aftermath, and they read this article, they would be very scared. The big thing is death and looting, with a picture of a man who had collapsed. It doesn't say anything about relief efforts of what good has been done already. This is what makes the article newsworthy. Stories about relief and government could seem very boring so those stories don't make the news. The writers and publishers for the newspaper want to put in something that will be interesting to outsiders, like death, so they can sell more of their product.

In some situations, I believe there could be a relationship between race and news coverage. From looking at multiple headlines, I saw that they tended to use looting and refugees for the African American people in the storm and they used searching for food and evacuees for the white people. Even if there is a relationship that i noticed in the articles, there is no way to tell whether it was on purpose or not. I think the biggest reasoning behind it is what newspapers put for their front pages and how the specific writer felt the story should be written. It is unfair to say that all of the newspapers considered race in their writing about Hurricane Katrina and used different language because of race.

Zeitoun: Interview With Character

The Girl On Her Own Agenda:
By Natalie Holdahl
It is 2004 and Kathy Zeitoun is living in New Orleans with her husband Abdulraham and their four kids. Kathy Zeitoun lives her life for her. She has never done what anyone else has told her to do and lives by her own rules. She grew up in a Christian family and in her early 20's decided that she wanted to convert to Islam. That is a big change for a young woman.

N: So Kathy, what was your life like growing up?

K: I lived the stereotypical life of a white family living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but we lived in very small quarters with each other. There were nine kids sharing a one story, 1,400-square-foot home.

N: How did you manage to live like that?

K: We had three kids to a room and all of us shared one bathroom. We were very crammed into our house but it made us closer as siblings. When I was younger, we would always play with the many kids in the neighborhood. My siblings are a pain at times, and some I don't even talk to. Even though we fought a lot, without them, I don't think I would have had four wonderful kids of my own. Also, my family grew up very strongly christian. We went to church every sunday, said our prayers at night and always looked to God.

N: What was the hardest part of your life growing up?

K: My school, Sherwood Middle School was very multiethnic. I was one of only a handful of white kids in the school and got picked on a lot. They would push me and laugh at me. From a young age, I was always quick to fight and argue.

N: What was your outlet from your hectic life?

K: My friend Yuko. We became friends when she was only three years old, but age never stopped us from being best friends. I would run away from home and go straight to Yuko's house. Her mother, Kameko, always took me in and kept me safe.

N: What's the best thing Yuko has ever done for you?

K: Yuko has done infinitely wonderful things for me in my life but I would have to say the most important thing she has ever done for me is to introduce me to Islam.

N: What was your conversion to Islam like?

K: It was a long, very thought out process, but it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

N: What first made you want to convert?

K: I was in my early twenties when Yuko first started to research it. At the time, I thought she was crazy to convert, but I trusted Yuko's decisions so I thought I would look into it. I started to read a little more about it and I had a run in with the Pastor of my church and told him about the problems I was having with Christianity. He made me get up in front of the whole church and tell that that I was thinking about Islam. They all laughed at me and thought that that was a huge mistake and they were glad I was keeping my beliefs with their God. I was so angry. That was the day I knew that becoming a Muslim was the right choice for me.

N: Why do you think your Pastor laughed at you?

K: People are very misinformed about other cultures. Some strong christian believers think that Christianity is the only allowable religion to be a part of. I bet nobody in that church that day even knew that Muslims and Christians believe in the same God!

N: What does your family think about it?

K: I don't think that any of them are against it but it just seems like they haven't fully excepted the fact that I am no longer Christian. Like it hasn't set into their mind and that if they don't believe it, that it won't be true. Whenever I go to visit my family they tell me things like "you can take that silly thing off your head now. It's just family around." and they don't understand the culture. My mom is the worst, although there are some points that she seems to be slowly accepting of it.

N: Are you happy with your life?

K: Very. It may be a little crazy at times, but I couldn't be better. I have a great husband, four wonderful kids and something to believe in.

N: Well there you have it. Even when it seems like life may be tough, it will always turn out great in the end. Thank you so much for talking with me Kathy. It was great to have you.