We live in a world striving to be politically correct. People are concerned about saying the right thing. Newspapers are wary that their reporting is scrutinized to the very last detail. Despite all of this, mistakes are often made.

There are right ways and wrong ways in reporting news. When reporting news involving racial and ethnic groups, reporting "the right way" is a must. Readers go by the media's perception of a particular person or group. Take this past story as an example of reporting news the wrong way.

During Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans residents broke into stores to steal food and clean water for their families. They broke into strip malls, pawn shops and gas stations and stole whatever they could use to survive. For a week, poor citizens lived as animals among rampaging, street thugs.

USA Today and Fox News Channel reported on the weeklong saga as desperate residents received little or no aid. However, in published reports, the newspaper and television show appeared to take sides.

Whites who left businesses carrying electronics, clothing, food and other items were said to be "doing what they could to survive". Blacks who did the same thing were stereotyped as "hoodlums, crooks, thieves, looters and criminals". Black and Hispanic neighborhoods were blamed for the shootings, murders and arson fires that kept emergency crews at bay.

Amidst the disaster, musician/producer, Kanye West was criticized for saying that President Bush didn't love African-Americans.

USA Today and FNC used their reporting as a political platform. They polarized a community already stricken by drugs, unemployment, zoned housing, police brutality, high crime and racism. They sided with Louisiana's slow response to a regional emergency. The Gulf Coast suffered over $1 trillion dollars in property damage and around 1,500 in people killed. Around 50,000 citizens fled to sanctuary in the Superdome. For three weeks, families packed in buses, like cattle. Many were separated. Tens of thousands lost their birth ceritificates and personal documents. They left with no identities, no futures and with only $2,000 VISA credit cards. New Orleans evacuees, not "refugees" as the press described them, were treated as African slaves. Americans were forced to survive for a week in 100-plus degree humidity living on top of buildings. Most newspapers failed to report that indignity.

USA Today and FNC failed in doing their journalistic duty. Their negative portrayal of African-Americans and the impoverished widened a social gap between the haves and have nots. Their articles appeared to have a Far Right slanted view. They also appeared to support a platform backed by Ultra Conservatives, Big Business and white elitists. They failed to report news with objectivity.

For years, minorities suffered ill treatment from news medias. In February, the New York Post published a cartoon of two, white cops shooting a gorilla. One of the officers made a reference to President Obama's unpopular, stimulus bill. Even a black President felt the sting of negative, "yellow" journalism.

Racial and ethnic groups deserved the same respect as whites. They didn't deserve to be called "hoodlums, thieves, welfare recipients, gangbangers, felons, crooks, lazy, angry, illegals, fugitive immigrants and Mexicans (for all Hispanics) in print or on screen. As a people, we stopped tolerating racism and discrimination in society. Our news medias should've been following this example a long time ago.

Learn more about this author, Marcus Brooks.
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