What Katrina Revealed: A Visual Analysis of the Hurricane Coverage by News Wires and U.S. Newspapers

Results of a comparative visual analysis of front-page photographs in U.S. newspapers and photographs distributed by the Associated Press and Reuters wire services revealed that gatekeeping decisions played an influential role in the coverage of Hurricane Katrina in the late summer of 2005. Front-pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journalism & mass communication quarterly 2007-09, Vol.84 (3), p.546-561
Main Authors: Fahmy, Shahira, Kelly, James D., Kim, Yung Soo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Decision making
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricanes
Influence
Information dissemination
Investigations
Iraq War-2003
Journalism
Mass Media
Mass Media Use
Natural disasters
News
News wire services
Patriotism
Persian Gulf War
Photography
Photojournalism
Press
Selection Criteria
September 11 terrorist attacks-2001
Studies
U.S.A
Values
Visual communication
War
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Description
Summary:Results of a comparative visual analysis of front-page photographs in U.S. newspapers and photographs distributed by the Associated Press and Reuters wire services revealed that gatekeeping decisions played an influential role in the coverage of Hurricane Katrina in the late summer of 2005. Front-page photographs differed significantly from photographs provided by news wires. Overall, our analyses challenge the notion that decisions made by wire services dictate the visual coverage of a news event and suggest that gatekeeping selections and use of available information are key factors in visual framing.
ISSN:1077-6990
2161-430X
DOI:10.1177/107769900708400309