Negative Depictions of Katrina Survivors

Analysis:

Considering that there have been few stories recently in the local TV news about the aftermath of Hurricaine Katrina, viewers should ask themselves to ask why WOOD 8 would they run this particular story. The local TV stations have, according to our monitoring work at GRIID, a marked tendency to show irrelevant, non-local stories if they are accompanied with video containing violence or people getting hurt. In these piece, no details are provided to explain what the causes of this school violence are, and more importantly, no information is given as to what plight of the citizens of New Orleans that have been displaced. Although it is not specifically mentioned, from the images shown in this story, it appears that most of the students fighting and being arrested are African American. In September of this year, GRIID hosted a public forum on the state of local media and gave people a chance to speak directly to representatives from both WZZM 13 and WOOD 8. In attendance was an African American man who had just arrived in Grand Rapids from New Orleans, and he pleaded with the local media to be more careful of how the depicted African American victims of Katrina. He spoke of seeing people there working together in very positive ways to overcome an incredibly difficult disaster situation, and yet, he felt the media focused primarily on negative images, such as the infamous “looters” and the unsubstantiated reports of the so-called “horrors” inside the superdome. This story of New Orleans students fighting illustrates what the man at the forum was talking about, a story painting Katrina victims in a negative light while giving the viewer no real information about their plight.

Story:

WOOD 8 Newsreader – A big brawl at a Texas High School today between kids from Houston and a group from Hurricaine Katrina. From New Orleans. Thirty students were arrested, some appeared to be resisting. School leaders say it all started in the cafeteria then spread throughout the school. Police arrested fifteen students from the Houston area and fifteen from New Orleans. A school district spokesperson said this is the twelfth or thirteenth fight involving Katrina evacuees at Houston schools.

Total Time: 30 seconds