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Degree

Master of Arts, Miami University, Mass Communication, 2009.

Abstract

This thesis examines the 2005 media coverage of Hurricane Katrina. It analyzes the content and the reasons for the sensationalist reporting which permeated media coverage, and looks at the extent to which racial identity and class level of those affected by the hurricane influenced that media coverage. The analysis shows that although there was an attempt at some level to provide institutional/structural reasons for why people couldn't leave, especially in The New York Times editorial articles, there was far more emphasis on tales of lawlessness and individual stories. When the media did point to institutional factors, two main challenges arose. First, these issues were often not adequately discussed, especially in television news reports. Second, focus on governmental failures often led to finger pointing at officials, instead of examining how the system as a whole had failed

Subject Headings

American studies; Communication; Cultural anthropology; Journalism; Mass media; Minority and ethnic groups; Rhetoric; Sociology; Womens studies

Keywords

Hurricane Katrina; Poverty; Racism; media; journalism; news coverage; sensationalism; looting; framing; New Orleans

Committee / Advisors

Dr. Lisa McLaughlin (Committee Chair)
Dr. Richard Campbell (Committee Member)
Dr. Ronald Scott (Committee Member)

Pages

80p.

Document number: miami1248401886
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1248401886

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