Per the question I asked in my last post, caption writers apparently meant no bias in describing New Orleans looters. Yahoo! News made a statement, noting that it accepts captions directly from wire services. The reporters from AFP and AP say they saw how the persons pictured acquired their items.

The Associated Press said its policy was clear. “When we see people go into businesses and come out with goods, we call it looting,” said Santiago Lyon, AP’s director of photography. “When we just see them carrying things down the road, we call it carrying items.”

Score one for the reporters.

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