News Outlets Called Out For Using Photos Of Asians And Chinatown In Coronavirus Articles

Numerous news outlets are being criticized for spreading implicit bias by linking images of Asians and Chinatown to coronavirus outbreak.

The New York Post, The Hill and the New York Times have all posted photos of Asians wearing masks in their coronavirus articles. This comes as a shock because the race of anyone tested positive with the disease has yet not been released. The New York Times changed the photo on the news article on its website, but the Facebook link still shows an image of two Asian women wearing masks, NBC News reported.

"We've published hundreds of stories on the coronavirus, and each one requires an image. In this case, the image selection was an oversight that was addressed quickly," said New York Times vice president of communications, Danielle Rhoades Ha, in an email.

The Hill too have replaced their old photo from the article and changed their old tweet with a new one.

"We also emailed the newsroom about photo selection on stories while adding new photos of coronavirus from multiple countries," The Hill's editor-in-chief, Bob Cusack, told NBC Asian America.

The New York Post is yet to delete its tweet in question to the matter. The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) has asked the media outlets to stop posting generic photos of Chinatown and encouraged them to provide adequate context when using photos of people wearing masks.

"For many years prior to the coronavirus outbreak, face masks have been commonly used in East Asian countries, including for protection from pollution. This practice has crossed over into immigrant Asian American populations in the United States, and the masks are now more prevalent as a result of the outbreak," said AAJA in a statement on Feb. 13.

Issac J. Bailey, a journalism professor at Davidson College in North Carolina said that the only solution for journalists is better Journalism, which is to give public the most accurate, timely, in-context and useful information possible.

"Newsrooms must be careful to avoid contributing to the misguided beliefs that fuel xenophobia," said Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, the executive director of AAJA.