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pecuniumWhat's wrong with these pictures?
Nothing, right?
Well, if you go and look at them here and here you will see that the couple in the first picture are just grabbing needed food, where the kid in the second has looted a grocery.
The only differences I can see between them are the color of their skin, and the bag of food the kid has (and the guy has a knapsack, so it's possible they have more than a "bottle of milk, a loaf of bread and come home right away." Absent knowledge of what's in the bag, and of how many people the kid might be taking it too; or of when he might be rescued, I'm willing to cut him the same slack the ones in the top picture get.
The food in those groceries is doomed. The perishables will perish and the semi-durable (canned goods) will probably be unsalvageable by the time they get the waters out of the city for not only are the pumps not capable of more than an inch an hour (as I recall reading) but they put the water into Lake Ponchartrain, which would be, until they repair the levee breaches, a Sysiphean task, since it will just run right back into town, charging anyone with looting; for food, is pointless, but the distinctions made here... sigh.
Nothing, right?
Well, if you go and look at them here and here you will see that the couple in the first picture are just grabbing needed food, where the kid in the second has looted a grocery.
The only differences I can see between them are the color of their skin, and the bag of food the kid has (and the guy has a knapsack, so it's possible they have more than a "bottle of milk, a loaf of bread and come home right away." Absent knowledge of what's in the bag, and of how many people the kid might be taking it too; or of when he might be rescued, I'm willing to cut him the same slack the ones in the top picture get.
The food in those groceries is doomed. The perishables will perish and the semi-durable (canned goods) will probably be unsalvageable by the time they get the waters out of the city for not only are the pumps not capable of more than an inch an hour (as I recall reading) but they put the water into Lake Ponchartrain, which would be, until they repair the levee breaches, a Sysiphean task, since it will just run right back into town, charging anyone with looting; for food, is pointless, but the distinctions made here... sigh.
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finding vs looting
Date: 2005-09-02 11:07 pm (UTC)and somebody has:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/looters.asp
Re: finding vs looting
Date: 2005-09-07 04:02 pm (UTC)The problem is first, no matter what the photographer thinks of the situation, it isn't looting until someone gets convicted, which makes it libel per se.
libel per se
n. broadcast or written publication of a false statement about another which accuses him/her of a crime, immoral acts, inability to perform his/her profession, having a loathsome disease (like syphilis) or dishonesty in business. Such claims are considered so obviously harmful that malice need not be proved to obtain a judgment for "general damages," and not just specific losses.
Which isn't really the point, but something he (or his editor) ought to have taken into account.
The second is that pictures say more than words. Even as illustration of a piece of text, the picture dominates. The editor ought to think about that (I did, when I was selecting photos). Choosing a black kid, and calling him a looter is a bad idea.
There will be other photos, and unless they all say everyone who has anything in their hands is looting, then the appearance of editorial decision to say blacks are looting, and whites aren't, will occur.
And it did.
TK