‘Came hell and high water’: the intersection of Hurricane Katrina, the news media, race and poverty.

The mass devastation and suffering left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in the US Gulf Coast brought the intersection of media and community into sharp focus. The news media played a pivotal role in almost every aspect of the disaster and its aftermath, and was harshly criticized for its depiction of minorities and for sensationalizing a human and environmental disaster. The literature suggests that media often represents minorities in a negative light, ultimately reinforcing existing social inequalities. This paper examines the portrayal of minority groups in the media during and after the storm. Data were coded from news media broadcasts to determine the nature of minority representation. Interviews were conducted with individuals from New Orleans who survived the disaster to understand issues related to media trust, the accuracy of media reports and perception of the media's portrayal of minorities. The results indicate that minorities are disproportionately shown in a passive or ‘victim’ role and are rarely shown in positions of expertize. Further, storm survivors indicated a misrepresentation of minorities in media coverage of the disaster, as well as reporting low levels of media trust and accuracy. The broader implications of these findings in relation to media reinforcement of social inequities and media responsibility are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]