Some people have come to the conclusion that race, class and even regional bias may have affected news coverage and rescue efforts during Hurricane Katrina.
University of Memphis freshman nursing major Felecia Actkingson said some of the news coverage on the Gulf Coast was unfair.
“I think it has a lot to do with race. They did not show the whites and Hispanics that looted, just the blacks,” she said.
She also said she felt like more could have been done to help evacuate the underprivileged, physically challenged and the elderly.
However, some believe the 24-hour-a-day coverage of the hurricane has brought some needed attention to the plight of the poor.
Stella Warren, a U of M sociology professor, said that media coverage of the disaster may have opened some eyes.
“It took a tragedy of epic proportions to make people realize not everyone is middle class,” said Warren.
She teaches a social inequality class, and in it she tries to instill in her students that class and race often are running mates.
“Years ago it became unfashionable to speak about the poor,” Warren said. “Race, class and gender are interconnected.”
She also said many students are far removed from the topic, and she spends some class time trying to convince students of the interconnections.
“The middle class has no idea how the poor live,” Warren said.
“In every crisis that I have looked at, the affluent people are treated differently than the poor,” Warren said.
Some also believe geography played a role in the federal response and news coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
“I think that if it had hit a northeastern city instead of a southeastern city, it would have gotten more news coverage and aid,” said Laura Bailey, sophomore English major.
Some think Mississippi has received considerably less news coverage than New Orleans. However, it may be a matter of size and population density.
“The size of the city (New Orleans) has predicted the coverage,” said Sandra Utt, a journalism professor. “There are smaller towns in Louisiana that were destroyed that are not getting any coverage.
“I think the media did an adequate job,” she said. “We had pictures, we had sound, we saw live TV shots of everything.”
