September 1, 2005 The New York Times
In "Evacuation of Stadium - Police Ordered to Stop Looters," an article about the mandatory evacuation of the Superdome, although the word survivors is used in place of refugees, the noun looters makes up the subject of the passage where it is used in the title of the column and later in the column itself when it is stated, "With police officers and National Guard giving priority to saving lives, looters brazenly ripped open gates and ransacked stores for food, clothing, television sets, computers, jewelry and guns, often in full view of helpless law-enforcement officials." This was the context on which the Mayor ordered police officers to stop search -and-rescue and zero in on the 'crime' in the city.
The claim is that law enforcement is helpless while it seems that hundreds and thousands of thefts are occurring daily. Also, by describing the people as looters it shows that the writer of the article agrees that these people are generally law breakers and need to be put into place. The bias is obviously against the victims, making it seem that if a person isn't being rescued, they're out running wild on the streets, taking whatever they want. Although there is never any mention of race, the article is biased for the government's perspective, and that sending 1,500 police officers to patrol the streets is the main priority.
The focus of the article starts with relief and rescue effort, highlighting the forced evacuation of the Superdome and the largest deployment of domestic relief in history, but then begins to dwindle on to the crime. After covering the basis of aid and evacuation the author chooses to go on an angle that is all about the crime. The purpose of the word looters is to describe the alleged thieves and persuade readers that the priority of enforcing the law is more important than searching and saving Hurricane Katrina victims. This article is on the front of the New York Times, one of the most widely read newspapers, intended for a vast variety of people. The author wants the audience to know that although there is chaos, the police are going to be having some sort of control from now on and the government is handling the situation correctly.
The title of the story impacts viewers immensely, one of the first things readers see is "Police Ordered to Stop Looters." This gives the impression that in New Orleans, a city ravaged by a category 5 hurricane, the number one priority of the police is to stop looting. There is such an "abundance" of it that 1,500 police officers have been ordered to prevent it. It impresses on readers that there is more crime than people needing rescue. This story was deemed newsworthy because it was crime story. For some reason, the public enjoy soaking up misery, despair, violence and lawlessness. Sometimes, I do too. This is because it is not the norm to see or hear about people able to just go into stores and take whatever they want. Whether it is true or not, the story gives something to people that they are interested in and want to hear about.
In conclusion, there is not a relationship between race and news media...... In this article. There is no mention of race in the article to describe the looters to any extent. This article focused on the article, and the crime, without ever classifying or claiming the "thieves" to be of any certain race.
No comments:
Post a Comment