Covering Haiti: When the Media Is the Disaster
Rebecca Solnit, author of A Paradise Built in Hell takes a look at the media's coverage of the Haiti's January earthquake.
"Soon after almost every disaster the crimes begin: ruthless, selfish, indifferent to human suffering, and generating far more suffering. The perpetrators go unpunished and live to commit further crimes against humanity. They care less for human life than for property. They act without regard for consequences."
She continues:
Within days of the Haitian earthquake, for example, the Los Angeles Times ran a series of photographs with captions that kept deploying the word “looting.” One was of a man lying face down on the ground with this caption: “A Haitian police officer ties up a suspected looter who was carrying a bag of evaporated milk.” The man’s sweaty face looks up at the camera, beseeching, anguished.
This article was written on 22 Jan 2010, and is filled under For Discussion.
Recent articles
- Culture Finds: I am Khanga24 Dec 2010
- Quote #19: Speak Out21 Dec 2010
- Culture Finds: Charles Henri Joseph Cordier27 Nov 2010
- Culture Finds: BHUTTO24 Nov 2010
- Beauty Redefined: Girls and Body Image23 Nov 2010
Recent comments
- Keith on My people, my people, my people-pe-peopleThanks for posting this article. What prompted me to google Bedford-Stuyvesant is Spike Lee's movie, Do the Right thing. The...
- Five Fascinating Latinas for Women’s History Month : Ms Magazine Blog on homegirls & handgrenades: Comandante Ramona[...] Ramona, a leading women’s rights activist, was a tiny package of fury and revolution. Though most people associate the...
- Lani on Africa is a country in the Jim Crow SouthI'm sorry to hear about your family...but am so deeply moved that you have shared this with me and the...
- Tweets that mention Africa is a country in the Jim Crow South -- Topsy.com on Africa is a country in the Jim Crow South[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Raquel Wilson, Raquel Wilson. Raquel Wilson said: Africa is a country in...
- The Small World Project revisited on The Small World Project[...] you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!In 2008 I started The...