Bias in the media. I can only hope that the caption writers saw these people obtain their food.

Picture 1: young man of colour wading through New Orleans flood waters and holding a box of pop. Associated Press caption reads “A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans”. (Emphasis mine.)

Picture 2: two light-skinned people wading through New Orleans floor waters and towing indeterminate items. Yahoo News caption reads “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.” (Emphasis mine.)

Update: I’m not the only one to make this observation. Boing Boing shows the same two pictures and a few others.

(c) 2005 by Andrea Coutu. Vancouver Marketing Consultant. All rights reserved.