Photo Captions From Katrina Stir Debate

AP ^ | 9/2/5 | JOCELYN NOVECK

[SmithL]

In one of the photos, a man wades through chest-deep waters with a large black bag filled with items from a grocery store. In another, two people wade through equally high waters, carrying bread and soda.

They were just two out of hundreds of stunning images transmitted Tuesday, the day after Katrina ravaged New Orleans. What has drawn attention to these two photos, though, is their captions.

In the first, the young man, who is black, is described as having "looted" the items. In the second, the pair, who are white or light-skinned, are described as "finding" the items.

The photos were by two different photographers working for two different news agencies, The Associated Press and AFP/Getty Images. But they appeared together on Yahoo News, and they sparked a flurry of blog entries, emails and calls contending the captions were unfair to blacks.

"The pictures appear to be identical but one individual is "looting" and the other is "finding" needed items!" one person wrote the AP. "This is irresponsible journalism and fuels the attitude that 'all' African-Americans are looters."

On Thursday, Yahoo withdrew the photo of the light-skinned pair at the request of Agence France Presse, which distributes Getty's U.S-produced photos internationally. In a note, Yahoo wrote it "regrets that these photos and captions, viewed together, may have suggested a racial bias on our part.

AFP said it withdrew the photo because it had been flooded with time-consuming phone calls and emails, while already stretched covering the enormous tragedy.

"It's safe to say that it was just causing us a lot of problems," said Bob Pearson, AFP's director of photography in the United States.

The Associated Press said its policy was clear.

"When we see people go into businesses and come out with goods, we call it looting,"

[SmithL]

I call it looting, too.

[Chi-townChief]

I was wondering what the hell this lefty a-hole was referring to here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=243655&messageid=1125661632&lp=1125702569

[msnimje]

Somebody seems to be making a something out of a whole lot of nothing. Were the captions written by the same person? If not, perhaps it simply a matter of the philosophy of the different caption writers?

[sine_nomine]

Or stealing, or robbing, or larceny. Looting fits best.

[AbeKrieger]

And in other news a massive hurricane took out a major U.S. city. Thousands may be dead.

[Paradox]

Somebody seems to be making a something out of a whole lot of nothing. Were the captions written by the same person? If not, perhaps it simply a matter of the philosophy of the different caption writers?

Read the entire story, The black guy was actually SEEN looting, whereas the two white people were SEEN wading through the water and FINDING the stuff floating around in the water.

There is NOTHING here but liberal hot air...

[Prime Choice]

Both are looters in my book.

Find the caption writer and fire her (or him). Problem solved.

[guitarnick40]

[CindyDawg]

I keep seeing this pop up. The woman is black, too.

[OldFriend]

It hurts to see these people in that water as tho they were simply walking along a sidewalk on a normal day.

Surreal.

[TomGuy]

Considering the extend of this catastrophe, I have no problem with those taking food. It would go to waste otherwise, because much of it is perishable. Too, those taking 'some' clothing; many lost everything except the clothes they were wearing.

One report said nearly half of those arriving on the buses in Houston Astrodome and related had no shoes. One Houston area outreach effort is to help provide them shoes.

[jwpjr]

re: a matter of the philosophy of the different caption writers?

Speaking as one who has been out there doing the news photos and writing the captions I can tell you exactly how it happens and it's really not a matter of racism or philosophy. Usually it has to do with the circumstances surrounding the photo. In the one case the shooter is covering breaking news where dozens of people are breaking into businesses and taking items. The setting of the news story is the looting and when you get a shot of people who have come out of a business carrying items you know first hand the circumstances of the image. In the second case you are roaming around looking for pictures and down the street comes a couple pulling a tub filled with items. You really don't know how they came to have the items in their possession so you ask and are told "we found them". You don't see anyone looting, so you simple repeat what you were told. Believe me, shooting breaking news and spot news is way too stressful to be trying to use your captions as a way to express your racism! In a typical day the photographer will take several hundred photos and will be on a strict deadline to find the shots that tell the story and to caption them. A picture that does not get on the wire until late in the evening stands a good chance of never being published. Takes time to crop the photos, color correct them, caption them and then transmit them to your publication or to the wire service. When you write the caption you have a number of concerns such as identifying the people in the shot, spelling, adherence to the AP style book (not to mention your own publication's style book) and the accuracy of the info overall. Two or three mistakes in captions in a single year might well cost you your job with the paper. The style thing is especially tricky, like when you refer to a city do you also refer to the state? Are you certain your description of what's in the picture jives with what the writer doing the story is saying in the article?

This PC thing has gone WAY too far!

[CindyDawg]

I'm sorry. I'm on too many threads:')

[CindyDawg]

Trying again. Yeah it is, isn't it. Any idea how long until they get them out?

[OldFriend]

The misery will go on for a very long time.

[Sally Golightly]

No country is more than 2 weeks away from a revolution.

[Cvengr]

If the 'looter' left his name and point of contact for the owner to find and indicated hiw intention of compensation, I tend to find no fault in their behavior.

There will be a number of perspectives on the taking of property in the disaster area. Some are innocent, some are guilty, but I suspect those who are more guilty might cause the deaths of others, while those who are innocent are acting accountably and righteously.

[BenLurkin]

There is something odd about the discrepancy in the captions.

People have offered reasonable explanations but it still looks very bad.

[festus]

No country is more than 2 weeks away from a revolution.

Huh ????

[Sally Golightly]

Sometimes written as "no country is more than 3 meals from a revolution". When things go wrong we look after our own survival.

I know that when my babies were babies rather than parents I, if placed in a bad enough situation, would do whatever was necessary to ensure their survival.